morality records presents:
kelly caldwell and the black forest girls
for the
searching bots : KELLY
CALDWELL discography, Septembre Girl, Many Many Birds,
Downer Folk, indie folk, Alt Country
related projects, the and spiders band, black forest girls, showdown at the
equator, Ann Arbor Michigan
Label: Ypsilanti" Septembre Girl" is the first solo effort by talented Michigan songstress Kelly
Jean Caldwell. In the past year or so, Kelly has emerged in the dustier barrooms
and stereo systems of the greater Detroit area, as the front woman of bands like
And Spiders, Showdown At The Equator and The Black Forrest Girls, as well as
lending her voice to recordings and performances by Saturday Looks Good To Me.
Regardless of the band or musical mode, Kelly's voice always stands out. On her
own, and in her own songs, Caldwell finds the perfect frame for her scrapbook
stories and wistful melancholy. The ten songs that make up "Septembre Girl" rush
almost drunkenly through shaking urgency and gentle isolated beauty.
Recorded and produced by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me, Flashpapr, His
Name Is Alive, etc) in the summer of 2002, the majority of the record is Kelly's
voice and acoustic guitar, only occasionally augmented with harmony vocals,
weird ghostly electric guitar or other nearly invisible elements. It's hard to
divert your attention from the voice, which spins simple songs into passionate
diatribes that fit each other perfectly. The best moments of contemporary
artists like Palace or Edith Frost are brought to mind, but the traditional song
structures and unassuming presentation reveal the inescapable influence of early
folk blues and cornerstone artists like Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground, Joni
Mitchell. The album is full of strong points and repeat-listening songs;
especially the first-take fragility of "Baby" or the barn-burning
Etta-James-backed-by-Brain-Jones'-Rolling-Stones album closer "My Beat Heart".