shed June 04, 2006

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There's something immediately familiar about Caroline Doctorow. And no, it's not just the surname she shares with her father, renowned novelist E.L. Doctorow. From the opening guitar strum of her latest album, Caroline Doctorow creates an intimate encounter with her listeners, teasing and soothing them with the stories she's gathered from her days criss-crossing the country on Greyhound buses.

Doctorow's songs truly can be called folk music. Throughout Follow You Down, Doctorow takes on the persona of a quick sketch artist. She draws on characters so strong one begins to imagine the physical features of the people and places that drive her words. But more importantly, Doctorow scratches deep beneath the surface of her subjects.

She brings out the often arid lifescapes that are usually only seen in a glimpse of an eye or the momentary down turned smile of people who unconsciously beg you to notice them. Perhaps what is familiar are those moments when each of us just wants someone, anyone to acknowledge our dreary existence.

Musically, Doctorow's album overflows with an effervescent country flavor, spiced nicely with Andrew Carillo's lap steel and acoustic guitar work, producer Frank Carillo's electric slide guitar, Karl Allweiler's upright bass, and Eddie Seville's drums. But Doctorow's band stays consistent with a folk sound that is a little reminiscent of progenitors Richard and Mimi Farina and perhaps a little Delaney and Bonnie thrown in for good measure.

Doctorow's singing is at times a bit strained, having a tad bit of difficulty remaining in key. But it's all good. For the most part, folk music is more about the words and the instrumental back up than the quality of the singing, although the genre has produced some extraordinary vocalists through the years.

But what sells this record is Doctorow's prodigious gifts as a wordsmith. Her years on the road have given her a tremendous insight into the human heart, and her compassion for the people and places she's spent time in creates a warm hearth for these enigmatic souls. They gather around it and praise the tiny God's which have sustained them through inner droughts that robbed them of a sense of place in the world. It's no easy feat to present an album which exposes the secret life that occurs behind the eyelids of the desperate soul, especially nowadays with so much adulation about self-absorption.

So Doctorow's work here is a fitting tribute to the family name. Much like her father's novels, Caroline Doctorow opens up new passageways to understanding with Follow You Down. For those willing to open their spirits to Follow You Down, you'll feel like you've travailed a long, dusty path to find the familiar, welcoming gardens of home, embraced and succored by Doctorow's lovingly poetic arms.
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