Vermont Collegian, Burlington VT
November 1, 1994
by Tracy Hammond

INTOXICATING TROUBADOURS

I had the opportunity to see two quality bands at Club Toast one recent, lonely Sunday evening, which was definitely tragic considering the many who did not get to see both Over the Rhine and Atlanta's Band de Soleil perform.

Band de Soleil went on first and stole the stage with their hard southern rock and boisterous front woman Michelle Malone (who I hear is one of the Indigo Girl's favorite performers). Check out Band de Soleil. They are not to be missed!

Now to Over the Rhine. Where should I begin with these intoxicating troubadours? I'll start with lead singer and guitarist Karin Bergquist, who gives Sarah McLachlan a run for her vocal range with an equally beautiful and angelic voice. Also in the band is Ric Hordinski, a very talented and versatile guitar player who plays acoustic, electric and lap steel, and who was obviously influenced by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan; Brian Kelley, who traveled as a child in a roving musical family and plays drums and percussion; and Linford Detweiler, who plays bass and keyboards.

The four Ohio natives began recording songs together in 1989, adopting the name of the old German neighborhood in Cincinnati, which had become their home. Some time after that, the band released independently a first collection of songs entitled 'Til We Have Faces, which led to opening stints with Bob Dylan, and later, Adrian Belew, and afforded them the opportunity to play festivals in England and Holland.

Over the Rhine followed 'Til We Have Faces with a subdued collection of demos entitled Patience, which was discovered by IRS Records and released by the label in June of 1993. IRS and Over the Rhine formed a rare partnership which allowed the band freedom to pursue the vision they had been developing intuitively.

Following the release of Patience, Over the Rhine has been touring extensively, winning a wider audience the old fashioned way: one person at a time. They played small rooms in the Midwest and on the East Coast, returned to festivals in England, Holland and Finland and followed Europe with another US tour of small venues. After that they were invited by the English pop band Squeeze to open for their Fall North American tour which ran seven weeks and included 40 cities.

The latest offering, Eve, which was recently released, is the first Over the Rhine record made with the knowledge that a major national release was planned. Still, the band chose to self-produce as in the early days and once again oversaw all of Eve's artwork themselves.

"We had a couple of options and a couple of fantasies too," said Karin, who I spoke to over the phone recently while the band was in Nashville, where they were playing that night. "We decided that self-production would be the best thing. It went pretty well. I think the next time we might try to broaden our horizons a little bit."

The album was recorded in a barn at Longview Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, with its 175 acres of rolling New England hillside replete with unruly farm cats and large, blinking horses. The band chose Trina Shoemaker, a protege of Daniel Lanois and Malcolm Burn, as Eve's primary recording engineer. (Trina went on to win Grammy Awards for her work with Sheryl Crow.)

Eve is an absolute masterpiece and is without question one of the finest releases of the year, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. In fact, we here at the office have become hopelessly addicted it, which is apparently what happens to most people who are exposed to Over the Rhine's intoxicating sound.

The hardest thing for the record company had to have been picking a single due to the fact that there are so many beautiful songs that could fit into different radio formats. My favorites are "Melancholy Room," which unleashes Karin's soaring vocals and is absolutely one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard; "Should," which could easily be a radio hit; "Sleep Baby Jane," with especially angelic vocals; and "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander," a bluesy rocker.

Another favorite of mine is the song chosen for the first single, "I'm Happy with Myself..." an upbeat number with an acoustic guitar base to it. Asked about the choice of the single, Karin said: "I think they went with "Happy With Myself?" because they felt the theme was pretty universal. Self-acceptance is an issue that most of us wrestle with. I think they're hoping that lots of people will relate to the sentiment expressed in the song."

I feel the same way about Over the Rhine. I want to tell everyone about them. Over the Rhine forges new ground between folk, pop and rock and roll. I predict that as soon as this bright angel reaches Alternative Nation, Over the Rhine will go over the top and come out of obscurity. The greatest thing about this band is their unique sound, which is incredibly diverse, and which makes it especially hard to label them: they can send chills up your spine with beautiful songs and then floor you with blues-influenced rock and roll with a serious edge ("Daddy Untwisted"). Most of the new songs were played at Toast to the delight of the few people who did check out the show.

Normally somewhat reticent in regard to their creative process, Over the Rhine gave insights into making Eve, which have been collected into a playful set of 21 Over the Rhine "trading cards". "That's Linford's doing," said Karin. "All the crazy fun ideas are probably his, because he's good with all that stuff."

Over the Rhine has also finished filming a documentary, which will give added insight into Eve and the unique five-year history of the group. "Despite the fact that we were making our most important record yet," said Karin "we were also learning to really laugh at ourselves, because after the trading cards and the documentary there's no going back."

In recent Over the Rhine news, the band has just been hooked up with new manager Peter Asher. "That's the sort of a dream come true," said Karin. "He's worked with Joni Mitchell, and Linda Ronstadt, and as far as all that's going on now, I think we needed that vote of confidence."