One constant running throughout Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine is Seattle songwriter, Carrie Clark's, keen eye for the telling detail and quirks of human nature. These thirteen originals span a gamut of styles, from classic country and surging rock to mischievous music hall numbers and jazz, but all of them showcase her astute powers of observation.
Carrie Clark: Biography
Carrie Clark is watching you. Oh, maybe not literally, but one constant running throughout Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine is the Seattle songwriter's keen eye for the telling detail and quirks of human nature. These thirteen originals span a gamut of styles, from classic country ("I'm A Lark," "Where Are You") and surging rock ("What Have We Done," "Down At My Knees") to mischievous music hall numbers ("The Night Before") and jazz ("The Stranger"), but all of them showcase her astute powers of observation.
As they like to say in Hollywood, all the events in Carrie Clark's music are based on a true story. Not just curious events, but the gamut of emotions brought to the fore by challenges both large and small, and how our voices, faces and body language reflect different sentiments. Clark finds people endlessly fascinating, and all her songs dwell on human foibles. She knows the best places to eavesdrop on inspiring anecdotes, too. "I love dive bars in the winter," she adds.
On the surface, many of these originals may seem primarily concerned with having fun and doling out generous doses of sassiness, yet they reveal myriad layers upon closer inspection. The album's title, Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine, is a line from one of the more lighthearted selections ("The Night Before"), but it neatly summarizes the emotional scope of the disc, which encompasses not only all the feelings that can crop up in the bedroom--passion, loneliness, dreams--but also the sometimes hard work of cleaning up after life's mishaps.
The follow-up to 2006's Seems So Civilized, Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine boasts the fullest sound and most fully realized arrangements in her catalog yet. Much of the credit, she demurs, goes to her band, the Lonesome Lovers; multi-instrumentalist and arranger Greg Fulton ("my right arm") has been with Clark since 2003, and the other members of the quintet, Kohen Burrill (Tubaluba), Kevin Emerson (Central Services), Dave Pascal (Love Markets) and Rob Witmer (Love Markets), all boast tenures of two years or longer.
She also underscores the pivotal role played by producer Martin Feveyer (Blue Scholars, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) in helping make her fourth independently released record the finest in her canon yet, pushing Clark and all her musicians to the utmost. The producer also encouraged them to experiment and tease out the unique character within each song, taking full advantage of the ensemble's versatile musicianship. A few of them changed quite drastically, and Clark cites "What Have We Done"--a state-of-the-world meditation inspired by her toddler nephew--as an especially successful example.
"I'm really proud of this record," she concludes. "I've grown a lot since the last one, and I'm excited to share this music." Carrie Clark is watching you; you'd be wise to keep your eyes--and ears--on Carrie Clark and the Lonesome Lovers, too.
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An Oregon native weaned on classics by Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, the Beach Boys and ABBA, Carrie Clark immersed herself in music at an early age, teaching herself to play piano and guitar, and writing her own songs. Her diverse musical palette is unsurprising given her wide-ranging performance background: since moving to Seattle, her ventures have included an indie pop ensemble, a folk duo, and a jazz big band. She's also proven adept at sharing stages with myriad artists, appearing on bills with Laura Veirs, Mark Olsen of the Jayhawks, Basia Bulat, and Portland's notorious Vagabond Opera.
Long Black Coat (lyrics)
He wears a long black coat when it rains to keep him dry
He wears a long black coat when it rains to hide from the sky
She wears a red velvet scarf when the snow falls in May
She wears a red velvet scarf to give her comfort from the day
* He wears a ten gallon hat to fill with his ten million tears
He still cries when he thinks of her even though its been so many years
He carries a cross to his chest even when he doesn?t believe
He carries a cross to his chest to take away his grief
She wears a long yellow ribbon tied tightly in her hair
She wears a long yellow ribbon so her soldier knows she cares
* He wears a ten gallon hat to fill with his ten million tears
He still cries when he thinks of her even though it?s been so many years
He wears a long black coat when it rains to keep him dry
Adeline (lyrics)
Adeline was a wistful child haunted by dreams of an unknown harm would seek comfort from her father before the dew. Her father charmed would take her in his arms stroke her braids and tip back his head and say, Adeline, there?s no one else like you
As she grew the dreams would too and until one day she had thought it through she would drive until the dreams lay in her wake. But anywhere she laid her head the dreams would come and they?d raise the dead. So she drives faster than the dreams can feed her pain
(chorus) Sun screams across the sky with the moon on its tail. She drives another hundred miles without the time to unleash her sails.
The highway miles they float on by much faster than she can gather ties to the ones she?s met then left so far behind.
Cat tails turn into suburban trails truck stop malls and urban sprawls that blur the lines between county and state divides. Forgotten dreams split at the seams of those who try but cannot see, just lose sight of who they are and what to be
A Whiskey neat and a smoke so sweet her wings would fly if she could lift her feet, So she drives as far as her head will lay her way. She?ll, light another cigarette, burn it through before she casts her net along the twisted road that drives her from her dreams
(chorus)
Long dirt roads lead her from, take her farther down will they bring her around or will Adeline just roam
(chorus)
So she drives another 1000 miles leaving the dead souls as they cry, Adeline, there?s no one else like you, Adeline, there?s no one else like you, Adeline, there?s no one else like you?
Lullaby (lyrics)
Lullaby
© 2003 Carrie Clark
Sweet night, red wine
chocolate cream pie and you.
Cherry sunshine, with you I lie
Safe in your arms.
Sleep tight shines the moonlight
stars guiding your dreams
Sail on my knight, into the starlight
rolling oceans of blue.
*Ode to, ode to, ode to the one I love
Sweet Sunrise wake up sleepy eyes,
feel the soft light on the dew.
Sweet sunshine, wake up sleepy eyes
my love for you
Sweet Betty Blue (lyrics)
Her mother wore pearls, took a hold of her world
At 18 packed her bags to go.
Off to the states, why bother to wait
She was off to gain fortune and fame.
A nurse in the war, she traveled so far
Where was the future she had dreamed
A soldier soon called and despite of it all
Born to this world Betty Blue
Sweet Betty Blue, Sweet Betty Blue
Only a child were you
Sweet Betty Blue Sweet Betty Blue
The world will not change just for you
Growing up on a fast track, her mother never looked back
She was just a girl in her own mind.
Her family she called and despite of it all
She took off and left Betty Blue
Sweet Betty Blue, Sweet Betty Blue
Only a child were you
Sweet Betty Blue Sweet Betty Blue
The world will not change just for you
She followed her path, but she finally turned back
Never found her fortune or her fame
She took off her pearls, turned her back to the world
And said Betty I?m coming home for you
* Sweet Betty Blue, Sweet Betty Blue
What in the world would you do
Sweet Betty Blue Sweet Betty Blue
Sweet Betty Blue I love you
* Sweet Betty Blue, Sweet Betty Blue
What in the world would you do
Sweet Betty Blue Sweet Betty Blue
Sweet Betty Blue I love you
Just for Tonight (Lyrics)
Take off your shirt close the door, turn on the lights, well I am yours. Yes I am yours, yes I?ll be yours, just for tonight.
A little ice to cool my drink, pour me some wine so I can?t think. That I?ll be yours, yes I am yours, just for tonight.
* I?m looking for a boy to bring this girl a little joy and woo me into the morning dew. I?m looking for a boy to be my little toy and play my games the whole night through.
I don?t want no complications, no philosophical conversations. And I?ll be yours, yes I am yours, just for tonight