Natalie Maines — Mother (2013)

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Natalie Maines — Mother
Ξ♣ Natalie Maines is best known as the frontwoman for the Dixie Chicks, but is also an accomplished songwriter and solo performer.
Ξ♣ “You know, people ask me that so much I feel like I should,” she says, pointing out that she’s been perfectly happy to stay home, tend her garden and focus on being a mother. “My answer’s not the right answer but, you know, I just get fulfilled by so many things. I’m just not one to pine for what I’m not doing.”
Birth name: Natalie Louise Maines Pasdar
Born: October 14, 1974 in Lubbock, Texas
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, bass
Location: Lubbock, Texas ~ Nashville, Tennessee ~ Las Vegas, Nevada ~ Los Angeles, California, Austin, Texas, and New York City.
Album release: May 7, 2013
Record Label: Sony/Columbia Records
Duration:     46:11
Tracklist:
01 Without You (Eddie Vedder)     3:52
02 Mother (Roger Waters)     5:53
03 Free Life (Dan Wilson)     5:03
04 Silver Bell (Patty Griffin / Adam Steinberg)     3:01
05 Lover, You Should've Come Over (Jeff Buckley)     7:02
06 Vein in Vain (Ben Harper/Jesse Ingalls/Natalie Maines/Jason Mozersky)     4:45
07 Trained (Ben Harper)     2:41
08 Come Cryin' to Me (Gary Louris/Martie Maguire/Natalie Maines/Emily Robinson)     4:34
09 I'd Run Away (Gary Louris / Mark Olson)     3:32
10 Take It on Faith (Ben Harper/Jesse Ingalls/Natalie Maines/Jason Mozersky)     5:48
Album Moods: Ambitious Animated Bravado Cathartic Confident Declamatory Dramatic Earnest Earthy Gutsy Kinetic Lyrical Poignant Rousing Strong
Themes: Affirmation Comfort Healing/Comfort Open Roa © Photo credit: Larry Busacca, Getty Images for NARAS
CREDITS:
Ξ♣ Ethan Allen Engineer
Ξ♣ Mark Bengston Assistant
Ξ♣ Michael H. Brauer Mixing
Ξ♣ Dean Bryant Make-Up
Ξ♣ Jeff Buckley Composer
Ξ♣ Todd Burke Engineer
Ξ♣ Danny Clinch Photography
Ξ♣ Kyle Crusham Guitar, Keyboards
Ξ♣ Meghan Foley Art Direction, Design
Ξ♣ Alan Forney Creation
Ξ♣ Ryan Gilligan Assistant, Pro-Tools
Ξ♣ Patty Griffin Composer
Ξ♣ Ben Harper Composer, Guitars (Ac+ El), Percussion, Producer, Slide Guitar, Vocals, Voc.bckgr
Ξ♣ Jaya Harper Vocals (Background)
Ξ♣ Jesse Ingalls Bass, Composer, Keyboards
Ξ♣ Tom Loo Cello
Ξ♣ Gary Louris Composer
Ξ♣ Bob Ludwig Mastering
Ξ♣ Martie Maguire Composer
Ξ♣ Lloyd Maines Engineer
Ξ♣ Natalie Maines Composer, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Ξ♣ Marjan Malakpour Stylist
Ξ♣ Pat Manske Engineer
Ξ♣ Jason Mozersky Composer, Guitar
Ξ♣ Pamela Neal Hair Stylist
Ξ♣ Mark Olson Composer
Ξ♣ Joel Pargman Violin
Ξ♣ Jordan Richardson Drums, Vocals (Background)
Ξ♣ Emily Robinson Composer
Ξ♣ Oleg Schramm Organ
Ξ♣ Coco Shinomiya Creation
Ξ♣ Adam Steinberg Composer
Ξ♣ Aaron Sterling Drums
Ξ♣ Eddie Vedder Composer
Ξ♣ Roger Waters Composer
Ξ♣ Jim Watts Engineer
Ξ♣ Dan Wilson Composer
Review by Thom Jurek; Score: ***
Ξ♣ After the double-platinum Taking the Long Way in 2006, the Dixie Chicks went on hiatus in 2007 after winning three Grammys; they had nothing left to prove. They'd successfully beat back the infamous country radio blacklisting they experienced in 2003 after Natalie Maines' comments about president George W. Bush during the Iraq war. They re-emerged in 2010 with a string of dates with the Eagles and Keith Urban — the same year that sisters Emily Robison's and Martie Maguire's side band, the Court Yard Hounds, released their self-titled debut. After three years of silence, it's Maines' turn. Ξ♣ Mother was co-produced with Ben Harper; he and his band back her on a series of generally polished rock & roll covers and originals. This is a singer's record, not a songwriter's. Maines has made no secret of her preference for rock and R&B over country, and her version of rock is indulged here. The set's best moments are the most unexpected. Her reading of Eddie Vedder's "Without You" finds Maines digging into its lyric and exposing its veins. The title cut by Roger Waters is less spooky and mournful than the original, and contains a tinge of contemporary country in its mix. The set's real gems include her scorching take on Patty Griffin's unreleased "Silver Bell," which is nearly off the rails in its intensity and features blazing guitars from Harper and Jason Mozersky. The midtempo "Come Cryin to Me" was co-written by the Dixie Chicks and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris. It's a pop/rock number about devotion and unconditional love, and Maines delivers the lyric with an earthy passion and commitment. Her version of Jeff Buckley's "Lover You Should Have Come Over" stretches her throaty contralto and falsetto to the breaking point, and offers a range of expression we've seldom heard from her before. "Vein in Vain" — is the set's only original tune and only ballad, but it exercises all of her authority as a vocalist in its confessional, broken-hearted narrative. Ξ♣ Set closer "Take It on Faith," with Harper's stinging slide guitar and glorious multi-layered backing chorus, caps it off with a gospel-like affirmation. For all its positives, however, Mother feels a tad uneven. For one, Harper's "Trained," the set's lone attempt at R&B-rock fusion, falls flat, succeeding at neither. While Maines' singing is the glue that holds everything together, the set's overly polished production and the scattershot curation of the material makes it feel like more like just a haphazard collection of songs than a cohesive album. Maines' fans, won't mind these quibbles, however, and will likely delight in her rock & roll obsession.
AWARDS:
Billboard Albums
Ξ♣ 2013 Mother The Billboard 200       #17
Ξ♣ 2013 Mother Top Digital Albums #10
Ξ♣ 2013 Mother Top Rock Albums       #4 © Ξ♣ Natalie Maines & two children (with Adrian Pasdar): Jackson Slade Pasdar (Slade) (born March 15, 2001) and Beckett Finn Pasdar (born July 14, 2004). She has referred to herself as "Natalie Pasdar". NATALIE Maines has revealed how she was brought...
Artist Biography by Thom Jurek
Ξ♣ Natalie Maines is a singer/songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Dixie Chicks, but has since established herself as a solo performer. She replaced original singer Laura Lynch in 1991. The group won 13 Grammy and 10 Country Music Association awards before going on hiatus in 2007.
Ξ♣ Maines is the daughter of near-legendary producer, multi-instrumentalist, and musician's musician, Lloyd Maines, one of the true architects of Americana music. After high school she attended several colleges, most notably the Berklee School of Music, where she earned a scholarship to pursue Voice Studies; she left before completing her degree, opting for a professional career instead. Her vocals have appeared on recordings from Texas songwriters Pat Green and Charlie Robison, as well as pop and rock artists including Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Neil Diamond, Pete Yorn, and Yellowcard, to name a few.
Ξ♣ Maines was in a very public feud with Toby Keith in 2002 over a song he wrote entitled "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue," which she claimed was ignorant and made Americans appear that way. After some back-and-forth tabloid exchanges, it culminated in her wearing a t-shirt on-stage with the letters F.U.T.K. in a Dixie Chicks performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Reportedly, Keith hasn't uttered her name since.
Ξ♣ Always outspoken on political and social justice issues including the Iraq war, Maines made comments in 2003 at a Dixie Chicks concert in England about then-president George W. Bush. As a protest against the war, she claimed the group was ashamed that he was from Texas. Her remarks caused a firestorm of controversy, and the Dixie Chicks were blacklisted on country radio. They were vindicated, however, when their 2006 album, Taking the Long Way, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and sold over two million copies — an album for which Maines wrote all the songs.
Ξ♣ Her debut solo offering, Mother, was released in May of 2013. The album is mostly a collection of covers and was co-produced with Ben Harper.
Website: http://www.nataliemainesmusic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mainesmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nataliemainesmusic
REVIEW
By MICHAEL McCALL 05/06/13 01:05 PM ET EDT/AP
Ξ♣ Natalie Maines' first solo album continues her movement into a deeply considered, provocative form of polished adult rock heard on her last recording, the Dixie Chicks' 2006 award-winning "Take the Long Way Home."
Ξ♣ As with that album, Maines sets aside the cheeky playfulness that marked her success in country music. Instead, she carefully curates an album of covers and originals by other writers with one strong original, "Take It On Faith." She leans hard on philosophical lyrics about self-identity (the title song, "Free Life") and the importance of strong relations ("Without You," "Come Cryin' To Me"). Much like Maines' public persona since her fallout with the conservative right after speaking out against the Iraq War, the songs waver between gutsy stands and seeking shelter with those who care for and understand her.
Ξ♣ Musically, producer Ben Harper gives her a lush background on intimate songs and a bluesy raucousness on up-tempo tunes. Maines shows how she can wail on rockers like Patty Griffin's "Silver Bell," but it's on Jeff Buckley's dramatic "Lover, You Should've Come Over" that shows how effective she can be with emotional vulnerability and the power of the full range of her vocals.
Ξ♣ Maines' talent once put the Dixie Chicks atop the country music world, which made the group's rejection and withdrawal such a loss. "Mother" finds Maines still affected by that controversy. But it also proves that, as an artist, she's still an American treasure. Fortaken: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Also:
Sterling Whitaker: http://tasteofcountry.com/natalie-maines-country-music-burned-my-ears/ © Per Ole Hagen, artistpicturesblog.com
Natalie Maines Solo at SXSW — More Rock than Country