SING OUT!
The Folk Song Magazine
Vol. 44 No. 1 Fall 1999
P.O. Box 5460 Bethlehem, PA 18015-0460
610/865-5366 • info@singout.org • www.singout.org
JANE VOSS: Farther Down The Road • Ripple 004
I don’t know to what extent Jane Voss’ songs on Farther Down the Road reflect her own personal history, but this is an album whose glorious songs reflect the determination of the human spirit to survive and rise from whatever adversity the crooked path of life may throw in its way.
Many of the songs are celebrations of emotional triumph. In No Hard Luck Kid, she defiantly turns her back on the demons of abuse that reach back to childhood. Then, in Free at Last (Let Me Find My Wings), she celebrates her freedom from those demons. As the album ends, in Farther Down The Road, Voss declares her victory in an inspiring celebration that gives hope to others struggling with their own demons.
In several songs, Voss reaches out with words of counsel. Talk To Me About It, Baby, is a plea to a friend or loved one to open up and unburden him/herself. That message is repeated again in Speak From Your Heart.
Voss uses a wide musical palette on these songs. Broad strokes
of old-time country music, blues, zydeco and Celtic music paint the various songs. Voss’ strong singing and guitar playing are beautifully supported with stellar back-up work from the likes of producer-pianist Hoyle Osborne and such singers and musicians
as Eric and Suzy Thompson, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin, Bill Evans, Steven Strauss and Mayne Smith.
— MR (Mike Regenstreif)
