I was having one of those days where I saw clouds amid sunshine and drug my feet about listening to yet another emerging artist who didn’t understand his craft or have anything to say. I put in Jes Raymond’s debut album, Even the Trees, in my player, and was healed. She offered me just the medicine I needed for my spirit. An extremely talented songwriter and singer, Raymond brought me a musical cure uprooted from deep in the mountains of North Carolina where she studied music, tempered and transmuted across this wide country, until she decanted it out in the Pacific Northwest. In 11 songs of love, hope, dreams, and promises, Raymond crafts disarmingly simple images that hold a clarity that is ripe with meaning.

I must offer a disclaimer here first. This is not just a happy, trippy album. Yes, some tracks are bouncy and a couple even make me hoot and holler, but others are thoughtful and poignant, and one even made me cry. Music that heals the spirit can make you dance or laugh, but when it does its best work, it also moves your heart.

For this album, Raymond is supported by an array of backup musicians that she uses sparingly, only adding the bare minimum of embellishment that will underline her lyrics and her guitar. Some are quite sparse and some enjoy the talents of a full band. Unfortunately, the liner notes do not lay out who plays on what tracks. However, some instruments are only played by one musician and are clearly identifiable on the tracks in which they appear.

Sean Bendickson adds drums and electric bass, while Alan King plays upright bass. Charlie Beck and Ben Sidelinger play banjo on a couple of tunes, with Sidelinger also contributing dobro on a couple of others. Yusuf Kilgore plays guitar, Morgan Alstot is on drums, and Jeff Rygwelski adds harmonica. Additional backup vocals are deftly rendered by Kate Graves and Sarah Sample.

Jakob Breitback, from The Blackberry Bushes Stringband, a side project that Raymond also plays with, adds a nice fiddle throughout several tracks but is especially sweet on “Even the Trees.” That son is beautifully rendered with a lovely backup harmony by Eli West. The vocal blend is excellent.

Tom Russell ’s klezmer clarinet is an unexpected touch, when it first appears on “Eliza Crossed the Ice.” But he does a nice interplay with Sidelinger’s dobro and a banjo on the cut “On the Road.”

One of my favorites is “Red White and Blue, “a bluegrass tune with guitar, bass, guitar, dobro, and female backup vocals. Raymond juxtaposes this conservative musical form with inclusive progressive liberalism. She writes: “Red, white, and blue/this is our country, too.” You go, girl!

But it is the last track, where some bluegrass performers often place their gospel song, that has the earmarks of becoming a folk classic. “Stand Where He Stands,” enhanced by guitars and fiddle and Raymond’s plaintive voice, presents a tender, honest tribute to her father, who could be a hard man and who didn’t understand her. Yet, her rendering of him and his circumstances shows her own deep understanding of him and the dreams he left behind. The beginning and end of the song tell of a shared interest, watching red birds in the snow that binds them now, though estranged and apart. This one song is worth more than the price of the album. And for that alone, I am grateful I have Even the Trees in my hands.

You can be sure; I will keep Even the Trees next to my player when I need a boost to my spirit. I would highly recommend this album to lovers of well-crafted tunes. Raymond has earned her right to follow in the footsteps of songwriting legends like Tom Paxton, Gordon Lightfoot, and Joni Mitchell. I look for a lot more from Jes Raymond.

Reviewed By Janie Franz

admin Janie Franz, Reviews Even The Trees, Jes Raymond