What comes through all the tracks on "Vice Vera" are Terry Winchell's vibrant vocals and a musical variety that vacillates in style but never in quality. With a rockabilly, country-folk sound, Terry's 2007 album gives a straight up folk rock performance of wholly original recordings. On her website Terry says that she was focused on the sound of this CD when she entered the studio.
"I never wanted to rush this project so I started out with a go-easy and see-where-it-ends-up approach," Terry explains. "It was important to create a relaxed feel in the music and also take time to explore the best way to convey my music in its purest form." The first track, "Waiting Here For You," is an upbeat, jumpy tune that reminds me of the folksy, country style of years gone by.
It's full of upbeat vocals and swinging music but the subject of the song is a woman who cheerfully waits as her lover chases down a dream. She follows that with "Crazy Some." This is a great song that I refer to as a "little ditty" about a woman who drives her man crazy because she just loves him so much but in the end he's gonna shout from the roof tops how much he loves her.
There's fast mandolin solo in the middle to keep up the pace with this crazy chick. She does slow down for a few pretty ballads like, "When The Sun Goes Down." "Be Gentle With Your Heart," is a haunting song on which Terry whispers and croons about how this vital organ "touches everything" in your life.
About "Be Gentle with Your Heart" she says, "I usually go deep and give every ounce of my inner self on my songs. I went a bit deeper on that one. When I finished playing I awoke as if under a spell.
That's a healing moment in making music. Recording the album offered me many healing moments, and I wanted to bring some of that to others." She comes back around real strong on "Bad Way" delivering a rocking, angst-ridden track.
Then she gets political in a very unusual way with the "Pesticide Song." Terry's vocals are the thing that keeps her album from falling apart among all the different angles and styles. She has a mature, full voice reminiscent of Joni Mitchell or even Carly Simon.
She also has a quirky country style that veils her lyrical drama like a Patsy Cline song or Loretta Lynn tune. Terry and her band (guitarist and mandolin player Mark McCarron, cellist Suzanne Mueller, bass guitarist Paul Page, and drummer Phil Cimino) have been playing together live for six years. Their casual, cozy relationship shows through on all of the fifteen tracks.
Terry and I spent some time talking and she was very revealing about the way this album came to life and her working habits. Lon Cohen: Vice Versa is the culmination of what you describe as a "two-year labor of love." Can you explain why that is and what you mean by that?
Terry Winchell: I set a time frame for making this album and I pretty much knew how I wanted things to sound. I had the songs already written, I had a stable of professional musicians who had been playing with me for a while, so they knew my style and songs. LC: It seems you had a vision for this project.
What was the major influence on how you wanted or intended this to turn out when you went into the studio to record? TW: Making an album is a page in my life. This project was in a good time in my life and I wanted the music to have that energy.
And, it had been awhile since my last CD was released. I had written great songs in the meantime, and I had a killer bunch of musicians. I wanted to record these songs in a more acoustic and natural sounding way, to capture the way I really sing and sound.
I knew I could bring this all together in the studio. I also felt these songs belonged together, in style and feel. I wanted an upbeat album that was colorful, with innovative music and meaningful lyrics, with up-front lead vocals and the rich warm sound of acoustic guitars and cello.
And I feel I accomplished that. LC: Your voice is very full, strong and mature sounding. Can you tell me a little about your voice training and background in singing?
TW: I'm self-taught, and I've always felt my voice is my forte. As for my style and sound and how I developed it, I sing from my gut and soul. I grew up in a household where several family members played saxophone.
I figure that full, airy sound may have made an impression on me early on. I played with my brother in a heavy rock 'n roll band so I learned to project my voice above some pretty loud music. It might just be genetic too.
It probably came from my mother - she had a beautiful voice. LC: Who are the major influences on your music in the popular (or not so popular) music scene? TW: The Beatles' music had an early profound influence on my songwriting and singing.
Then later on Van Morrison, Otis Redding, Tom Petty, Graham Parsons, Bob Dylan, The Band, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Paul Sibel, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, and Neil Young. LC: I like that the songs on this album are as short or as long as they need to be. Did you write them that way or how much did your band have to do with that?
TW: I wrote all of the songs on "Vice Versa," except for "Life Is For Living," which I co-wrote with Mark McCarron. As for length, I don't think about that in the beginning of writing a song. If it would sound better shorter, it will dawn on me at some point and I'll rework it.
LC: Even on "Waiting Here For You" and other songs where they could have been done as slower ballads, you've make them great fun and really very upbeat tunes. Why did you choose this style for this album? TW: I wrote these songs and then decided to make this album.
Some of these songs were written a while ago and some right before the recording started. I recorded even more songs for this project, but I choose these 15 songs, and that's quite a few songs to have on a CD. I just really liked the way they flowed together and they had elements of country, folk and rockabilly that give the album a more cohesive sound.
LC: Tell me a little bit about the musicians that you play with and recorded with on this album. TW: The musicians that played on "Vice Versa" are people I've been playing with for the past 9 years. Most of them live in or near NYC.
From time to time we come together to play live shows or record. Mark McCarron was the engineer on "Vice Versa." He also played lead acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and bass, and he sings backup vocals.
Suzanne Mueller, cello, is a Julliard Graduate currently being mentored by Eugene Firesen, of the Paul Winter Consort. Paul Page played bass and sang back up vocals on "Vice Versa." Paul has toured coast to coast in the US, Canada, and abroad with many great artists.
His live appearances include prestigious venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Bottom Line, Boston's Symphony Hall, and The Fillmore in San Francisco. Phil Cimino Drums is a graduate of Five Towns College, one of the busiest touring and session drummers in NYC. I mixed and mastered it at Dubway studios with Al Houghton and Mike Crehore, and I can't say enough about how great it was working with them.
Initially, years ago, I hired the musicians who played on Vice Versa CD and over the years we became friends from playing together, so we had a lot of fun on each session. Making an album is involved, it takes time, it's work - but I was making music, and that's what I love to do. LC: Can you describe your feelings about living and making music on the East End of Long Island, and does it influence you and your music in a particular way?
TW: When I first started writing songs at 15 years of age, my influences were mostly local. But, since my 20s I have traveled and lived in many other places, so my influences are now much more far-ranging, but I do still draw inspiration from out east here - it's where I grew up and went to school. Sometimes I reflect back to the days when I was a kid riding my bike with my dog down the truck paths in potato fields, when there were few houses and quiet streets.
It was far more rural and agricultural then. LC: How is the album doing? TW: I'm happy to say I'm getting a consistent and considerable amount of airplay with the Vice Versa CD.
Every week more and more stations are giving it a spin, some more then others. It's been a lot of work pushing this independent release and I've got a lot more work ahead.
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