TWILIGHT PRESS

XLENT, Austin-American Statesman

October 11, 2001

Four Star Review

Michael Corcoran

Austin has a captivating new singer-songwriter, and not a moment too soon.

Is the music of Mississippi transplant Caroline Herring? Bluegrass/ Folk? Lyrically eerie and musically engaging? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes and oh, yes.

Herring taps some top local talent, including Paul Glasse, Eamon McLoughlin, Peter Rowan and Bryn and Billy Bright, for a debut that excludes the scent of arrival. These songs about Carolina moons and pretty girls from delta towns and long-gone times are bolstered by melodies as rich as red dirt and an easy singing style dictated by the lyrics. On the stark, cycle-of-loneliness tune “Emma,” Herring flips her voice in a weary falsetto. For the more blatant country “Devil Made a Mess,” meanwhile, Herring sings with a fullness that sounds suited to radio, if not quite ready for Henna Chevrolet commercials. When you see on the back cover that Herring does “Wreck on the Highway,” it’s a toss-up whether it’s the Bruce Springsteen or Roy Acuff song. That it’s the latter makes sense as the record rolls on. Though she plows the same lyrical fields as Springsteen, right down to Mansion on the hill” imagery, Herring’s music is firmly rooted in tradition.

This record feels like producer John Inmon somehow got a front porch into the studio. You can practically hear the wood creak, with the unvarnished feel accented by a false start, a kickoff of “We’re rolling” and random chatter. If there’s an overall theme to this impressive calling card, it’s “home.” Leaving it. Rediscovering it. Making it wherever it feels right.

The Austin Chronicle

November 16, 2001

Four Star Review

Jim Caligiuri

What Caroline Herring does on Twilight, her debut, is nothing new. Simply put, she’s making good old-fashioned folk music. Herring’s simple melodies and uncomplicated stories, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitars, fiddles, mandolin, and dobro come across with so much vitality, charm, and enthusiasm that Twilight takes on an energy that’s truly distinctive and captivating. Herring is a Mississippi native and a relative newcomer to the Austin music scene, but she’s managed to round up a stellar group of Texas-based backing musicians, including Peter Rowan, Lloyd Maines, Paul Glasse, Paul Pearcy, Eamon McLoughlin, and producer John Inmon, to help give Twilight a sturdy musical framework. Her brand of folk music is wide-ranging and includes bluegrass, traditional country, and acoustic ballads, while her lyrics reflect Herring’s deep Southern roots. It’s all remarkably well done – a rare feat for any artist, but especially on one’s first album. Songs like the stirring set opener “Mississippi Snow,” the old-timey “Carolina Moon,” sweet fiddle-driven “Learning to Drive,” and the lonesome twang of “Devil Made a Mess” demonstrate that herring possesses an admirable amount of talent, both as a songwriter and as a vocalist. She ends the disc with a ragged-but-right take on Roy Acuff’s “Wreck on the Highway.” It’s a sly move that demonstrates how deep Herring’s musical roots go, while also shining a knowing light on the fresh spirit she brings to an old-fashioned sound.