Grand evolution Erin McKeown’s songs get ‘bigger and better’ BY BOB GULLA

In so many cases, it’s a gut feeling, an instinct that kicks in to let you know something is somehow right. (Or wrong.) When natural songwriters get that gut feeling, well, they know they have a song. Erin McKeown, for one, has been seeking and finding that feeling since starting out back in 1997, while she was attending Brown University.

"You keep trying for it," she says. "That’s the best thing you can do for your listeners, to keep trying to find that gut feeling.

"As a songwriter I often feel like a hack. I want to be known as a great and original writer, but you wonder if [you] can be. So much is based on that gut feeling."

Erin isn’t looking for just any gut feeling. Rather she’s looking for the kind of inspiration that suits an artist only at the very highest level. This isn’t easy. And it happens to be a lifelong pursuit.

"You have to start out with a sound, but at some point that sound has to take on its own life. The excruciating part was the actual puzzle of each song and how to actually make the music do what I wanted to feel. You listen to a track back and forth and you do things to it till your gut tells you it’s right."

There’s that word again.

When the now 25-year-old Virginia native was studying at Brown, she first suffered through a brief dalliance with biology before deciding on music as a livelihood. When that decision was made, she set out, as if following breadcrumbs, tracking down open mikes, or hoots as they’re occasionally called in the folk music biz, and knocking on the doors of local haunts. She eventually graduated with a specialization in musical theater.

Erin soon snagged an "artist-in-residence" tag at AS220, and from there it didn’t take long for her star to begin its ascension. She chalked up top honors in this paper’s Best Music Poll for Best Folk Artist of 2000, plus a Boston Music Award nomination for outstanding new singer/songwriter. Her audience widened with the release of the fine Distillation (Signature Sounds) in 2000, and the gigs began to get bigger. Erin played Falcon Ridge during the summer of 2001 as one of the 20 hopefuls in the New Artists Showcase and was one of four "Favorite Picks." When she returned to that fest in 2002, she took the workshop stage with Chris Smither, Greg Brown, and Lucy Kaplansky — all veteran talents in the cozy world of acoustic music. She also toured with Jess Klein, Beth Amsel, and Rose Polenzani as Voices On the Verge.

Erin was the breakout artist at this past summer’s Newport Folk Festival, too, and impressed many at England’s Glastonbury Festival. She has recently been invited to open shows for the Dave MatthewsBand, David Gray, Norah Jones, and Ani Difranco, all at their request. And she’s graced the airwaves of NPR’s Morning Edition, KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, the syndicated World Café, plus a slew of radio stations across the country. Early risers were treated to a recent Saturday morning performance on CBS’ The Early Show.

Since the release of Distillation, Erin has moved over to the more powerful Nettwerk imprint, home to Sarah McLachlan and many other major artists. Grand, her Nettwerk debut, came out earlier this year to loads of acclaim, and was just included at number three in Paste magazine’s "Signs of Life" list (aka the year’s best albums). There she was, just behind Rufus Wainwright and ahead of critics’ faves like the Jayhawks and Joe Henry. Not bad for a former aspiring biologist.

As a work of art, Grand is incredibly diverse and equally accomplished, exploring pop niches from moody cabaret and pop ’n’ roll to New Orleans jazz, fractured blues, and folk. Listeners will find traces of Randy Newman’s wit, the matter-of-fact storytelling of Liz Phair, and the intricate arrangements and wry approach of Elvis Costello. And Erin plays her Gretsch hollow body in a swinging style suggestive of Django Reinhardt.

"Grand couldn’t have happened any sooner in my career," she says, "but it totally reflects all the change I experienced since the last album. I feel good that it justified the love people felt for Distillation. I also had some moments of discovery with it. I needed to make Grand for my own sake and also for what I felt I owed my audience. I wanted to give them something even bigger and better."

Since releasing Grand, Erin has been making a name for herself both at home and abroad. In the last six weeks, she visited Seattle and Alaska, England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Having turned heads quicker in Europe than here in the States, Erin even played a few TV shows, including Late Late Show in Dublin, which is the Irish equivalent of Leno or Letterman.

Q: What was it like playing in front of cameras?

A: It’s easier to crack the media overseas than it is in the US. In England I played a show, Later with Jools Holland, that also featured Sean Paul and Ludacris. It’s a pretty amazing show. Basically they take seven musical acts and everyone stays set up the entire time. For a full hour it’s one performance after another. The Coral and Elbow were there, too. TV is so strange for me. When you’re in the studio you can make changes and learn, but for me it’s harder to watch myself on TV. To me, watching music on TV is boring and it never sounds good, so it’s always about how things look. I guess that’s the part of music I need to tackle.

Q: What has the last year or so been like for you?

A: It’s been a process of the fans getting to know the songs better. I’ve been everywhere twice now, and there’s a big difference the second time. They’ve lived with the record, and now have a desire to hear songs played, and I now know which songs stick and which ones didn’t. I’ve also learned that it’s a different experience connecting with the songs each night. Grand was not written about my own life. I’ve found that the songs I’ve written from an emotional place are easier to play than songs that don’t come from that place.

Q: Has your motivation for writing changed?

A: There are a ton of reasons to write songs; one is because you need a certain feel and an emotion, to fill more than an hour of music. It’s a little exhausting writing emotionally. I know that with Distillation I wrote personal songs and didn’t wanna talk about them. I’ve always been pretty guarded about my private situation. You can write from an emotional place without betraying your private life. I don’t like the specificity, or the prosaic way artists talk about things in their life. So I add a layer of poetry and a general sheen to it.

Q: Are you having fun with all the work you’re doing or is it a challenge?

A: You can do lots and lots of work and talk to people about ideas and opportunities, but they may or may not work. But you have to do them anyway because they may actually work. So I guess the lesson is that I might as well enjoy it if I have to do it. If I’m gonna do five interviews, I’m gonna find something to enjoy about each one of them. If you keep waiting for the thing that’s dangling in front of you, it may not happen. In fact, you can make the greatest records and be the greatest musician and still not be guaranteed that anything will happen. You’ve got to make the best of it.

Honestly, though, I kinda can’t wait for this stage to be over. I don’t want to feel like I have to take advantage of any crack of daylight. It results in heinous scheduling, and for the first time in my life it’s taking its toll. Obviously, my career is the most important thing in life. But the cruel thing about the music business is that in the end, if you don’t keep the relationships going, you could be left with nothing. I guess you have to accept that.

Q: What do you feel is the most important lesson you’ve learned?

A: I’ve learned that despite whatever’s going on, I have to remain a fan of music. Lately, I’ve been making a real effort to reach out to people I’ve been fans with. I mean, I’ve been trying to send fan letters and music to my idols to let them know I’m a big fan. And I’ve received things in return, which is exciting. If you’re going to be creative, you need to assemble a group of people who do what you do as support. If I get excited about someone’s performance, I’m gonna tell them in the same way someone tells me — I respond to everyone who writes me. I get so excited when I hear back from someone I’ve written. I’ve been enjoying sending and receiving packages. It really brightens my day, especially when you’re exhausted and working really hard.

Erin will appear at Stone Soup on Saturday, December 6 at 8 p.m. The venue is located at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Arts Center at 210 Main Street. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by calling (401) 725-8638, or at the Slater Mill Gift Shop in the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center.