Look To The Sun
INDIE-MUSIC.COM
February 2007, Jennifer Layton
Stacey Board must have done very well on her high school English papers, because she can really carry through with a theme.
(Or a motif. I always got those mixed up.) Her 2002 CD, Drive, centered around road trips, and she carried that idea through in the CD artwork, the sound clips
of a car radio and wheels on the road, and her jamming guitar and conversational singing style.
This time, it's about flowers, and again, she's brilliant in the way she covers every detail. Not only do the lyrics make references to blooming and wilting
and drinking in the sunlight, but the tempo of each song is patient and laid-back, like a flower taking its sweet time to open. Her voice is less conversational
and more crooning, lilting, in harmony with nature. Hearing her pure country/folkie/earthy voice with its twangy spunk on this CD feels like lying in the warm grass
on a spring day, basking in the sun.
The songs are soulful reflections of love and loss without any trace of melodrama, not even in the opener "Cry Cry Cry." That one's just a down-to-earth description
of a woman having to let it all out every once in a while.
While some songs are heartbreakers, Board keeps a philosophical approach. "Satellite" is a good example. The lyrics sound like she is separated from the one
she loves, but instead of hysteria, we get this blissful image:
You're the sea, and my moon is full ...
Arcing floating I'll pass over
I will blow a kiss
Every point on my horizon comes to this ...
But in keeping with the theme, I kept focusing on the floral imagery. From "Sleep":
All things we planted bloomed
Til you spoke her name
You turned our love to my shame ...
"Home to Me Now" contains the great image of "a seed to a flower that blooms in wings." She hears whispering coming from her garden in "Not the Way."
Everything around her is alive and breathing, inspiring her.
I love how Board centers each CD on one specific idea and brings it out in every aspect of the project. It makes me wonder what she'll try next.
Churches? Oceans? Trees? Whatever it is, she'll come up with gorgeous CD art and lyrics that make you see churches, oceans, or trees in a way you never did before.
Americana UK Magazine
This must be Kim Richey under
a pseudonym. The voice is exactly right, perhaps lacking a little
gravel but that’s all, with exactly the high thoughtful pain
that Richey’s made her own. The music is well-produced, clear
and thoughtful, acoustic driven but with electric edges. And the
songs live in that thirty/forty-something, post-divorce/break-up
zone that Richey is the doyen of. Case closed.
Alright, so it’s not actually
Kim Richey, but it’s pretty darn close. And well normally
such a direct comparison would be pretty damning, this is Stacey
Board’s sixth album, so it’s more a case of parallel
artistic development. And given that Ms Richey is not the most
prolific, it’s good to have someone mining the same area
with such skill and style.
Board writes songs that know pain,
but they come through it, scarred but stronger, and they do so
not by confronting it and daring it do it’s worst, but understanding
it and it’s limitations. She has a way with an image too,
whether it’s “the rearview mirror that sees right through
me” or the “shivering finger tattoos on my arms”.
Her music is thoughtful and considered, but all the more insistent
and moving for it. They say it’s the quiet ones you have
to watch out for, and Stacey Board is as good a demonstration
of that as you could wish. A cut above the torrent of female singer-songwriters
out there.
Salt Lake Weekly
'SLC’s
hardest-working folkie has ditched the rockier edge of 2002’s
Drive for a softer, sparer vibe that feels straight out of the
sunny summer of ’72. Board’s bell-pure voice is
the constant, but, even more than before, this one’s about
the songs' - Bill Frost
KRCL Radio, Salt Lake - 'A good sounding, fine CD', Bill Boyd.
Catalyst Magazine
From the jangling acoustic guitar
riff that introduces "Cry Cry Cry," the opening number
on this, Board's fifth release, to the soaring unaccompanied vocal
coda of "Winter Will," the album's final cut, Look
to the Sun is practically a textbook example of how a talented
independent artist can compete with major label budgets by emphasizing
vision and creativity.
Look to the Sun is distinguished by spacious production
that showcases Board's increasingly husky voice to great advantage.
Furthermore, she resists the temptation to add too much studio
sweetener to her already fully formed style, instead allowing
the stripped-down arrangements to highlight the melodic ingenuity
of the 11 songs here. In fact, artfully structured material like
"Today Is Not the Day" and "The Stone" serve
as potent reminders of Board's talent for discovering new melodic
possibilities within familiar chord progressions. A consistently
fine release that balances thoughtful lyrics with shimmering,
engaging music' - Barry Scholl
Missoula Independent
Its easy to find adjectives to describe singer-songwriter
Stacey Board's voice: clear and crisp, soaring, easy and resonant. Its the
kind of voice that, if you close your eyes, could be coming live from right beside you.
But the Alabama-born Board has much more going for her than a pretty voice and
a pretty face. On Look To The Sun, her sixth release, Board goes beyond the
one-woman-and-six-string label, letting simple drumming and vocal back-up
build each song into something layered, restless and insistent.
Board's music has a pure quality that comes through not just in the hint of
country twang in her voice, but in the unblinkingly earnest lyrics. For instance,
she sings the hopefuly line, "I may not have ans answer, but I have a song", in
"Home To Me Now."
Look to the Sun isn't music to sit back to, and its not really for dancing - its music
for rolling down the windows and leaving town with a throughtful soundtrack to keep
you driving on - Alyssa Work
REVIEWS OF HYBRID
Salt Lake Tribune
Death By Salt - a Salt Lake Underground Compilation
I'm very happy to have been selected to be part of this compilation! - S
'Folk music is etched in to history, and therefore, easy to
fake or copy. Creating true folk rock is a challenge that
only those who understand can attempt and conquer. Stacey
is one such artist and can compare herself to the likes of
Sheryl Crow and Wilco with a straight face. Stacey Board
has won Salt Lake City's Best Folk/Acoustic award three
years running, as well as accolades in local and national
press. Having received regional and national praise for her
release "Drive", she plays either solo or with her band at
prominent local musti festivals when not touring to many out
of state events.
Muse's Muse (www.musesmuse.com)
Stacey Board's
songwriting and performance style is honest, down to earth and
to the point. In a clear, high voice that bears a touch
of Bree Sharp, Board lays down melodic songs that bear the influence
of both time-tested folk music and modern electronica.
"What I Wanted"
and "Unravelling" are two songs that will particularly
stick in the listener's head, and the funky groove and progressive
harmonies of "Joey" also stand out. Board's talent
as a songwriter is clear; she has a great shot at making a name
for herself." David Lockeretz, Muses Muse
Salt Lake Area Music
Awards (Slammy's)
"Best Folk/Acoustic",
2003, 2002, 2001
SLC Weekly , November
2002
Thank you for
including Drive in your top 50 CD's of the year!
Singer-Songwriter.com
"Award winning
singer/songwriter with intelligence, wit and soul. "
A great review at Indie-Music.com
"Acoustic
guitar-driven, catchy, and full of the hot sun, this CD made me
forget about the slushy snow still covering my yard". Full Review
click here
Idaho Mountain Xpress,
Ketchum/Sun Valley ID
" Drive
not only shows off Board's resonant voice, but it maintains a
driving, energetic sound that folk albums often lack."
SLC Weekly
Singer-songwriter
Stacey Board’s recently acquired band doesn’t just back
her on this initial all-together-now studio foray, they sonically
envelope her—more than just instrumentation, it’s about
atmosphere. Board probably wouldn’t have stretched into bedroom-eyed
SoCal rock (“Half of It,” “Joey”) or jazzy
vamps (“Fall This Far”) without a backbeat nudge. Hints
of eerie guitar feedback give the dark waltz of “Invisible
Girl” added edge, while the sharp-tongued “White Churches”
returns to Board’s familiar folk-pop backyard. Bonus: Old-school
radio dial concept-static between cuts.
Susanne Millsaps, KRCL
90.9 FM, Salt Lake
"Drive"
is the complete package - great lyrics, catchy tunes, and lots
of energy. Highly recommended.
Salt Lake Tribune
On her earlier
acoustic works, one got the impression that if folk-pop artist
Stacey Board ever had a band to use as an instrument, the result
would be impressive.
Now she has, and
it is.
"Drive,"
Board's first album featuring a full band, continues to highlight
her strong, controlled voice and powerful guitar playing. Happily,
the band, which features C.J. Burton, drums, Peter Jensen, bass,
and Tucker Rountree, guitars, flatters and doesn't overpower Board.
For example, on "Joey," the addition of trumpeter Lisa
Verzella and sax player Eric Gindlesperger is perfectly blended
to enhance Board's vocal performance.
Board
also enlists the services of her friends, many of whom are part
of a Salt Lake City acoustic family -- Gina French, Melissa Warner,
Glade, Carolyn Toronto, David Prill, Wendy Ohlwiler and Desmond
Moser.
With each
album, including "Simple Thing" and the excellent "Not
Love Art," Board shows a growing maturity as a songwriter.
"Drive" continues that growth. The exciting aspect of
"Drive" is how well Board has incorporated her spare
solo sound with that of a band. -- Martin Renzhofer.
CD Release blurb, SLC
Weekly
"Every time
you turn around, there's Stacey Board releasing a new CD. After
this summer's live Sketchbook, (the follow up to her solo acoustic
releases simple thing and Not Love Art), Board took her band into
the studio proper and laid down the brand-new Drive, easily her
best album yet. "I like to say 'its so good it'll make you
pee, but no one else wants me to use that," Board laughs.
"Seriously, it turned out great, but I had no idea it would
take so long to finish". Time well spent, obviously,
with the band and a plethora of guest musicians adding punch and
atmosphere to her well-crafted folk-pop hooks and smart lyrics.
Besides, if the songs don't make you pee, the sweet 1955 Thunderbird
featured all over the cover art of Drive probably will" -
Bill Frost, Salt Lake City Weekly
The Kemmerer Gazette,
Kemmerer WY, August 2001
"Stacey Board
and her band captured the crowd's soul...Looking fetching in her
shades, in-between songs she would tune and charm the audience
with the stories behind them"
SLC Weekly Listing June
2001
"Come Alive after five free
concert series opens today kicking off right with the Stacey Board
Band and Chola. While Stacey Board the solo artist is known as
an acoustic folkie, make no mistake: The Stacey Board BAND (with
guitarist Tucker rountree, bassist Peter Jensen and drummer CJ
Burton) ROCKS, putting a tastefully muscular new spin on her familiar
songs and recent compositions. Request a copy of Sketchbook,
a recorded-live CD of the band working over Stacey's solo hits"
- Bill Frost, Salt Lake City Weekly
SLC Weekly Performance
Review, January 2001
"In
a snappy green ensemble topped with a fuzzy black hat that she
tossed three chords in - the hat not the ensemble - blonde folkie
Stacey Board grabbed her place as the evening's only leading woman
with girl power gusto. Songs from her two solo acoustic
CDs and newer material were fleshed-out and rocked-up by her guitar-bass-drums
band, which, with a mere six gigs together, is greener than the
aforementioned outfit, but you'd never know it from the seamless
segues and powerful crescendos they turned out like a seasoned
unit. Joined with Board's keen song-crafting and fiery pipes,
it was a neaerly unbeatable combo. Random judge comments:
"One hell of a temendous voice" "A difficult sound
to categorize, which is a good thing." "One of the most
talented and beautiful women to grace the field."
Bill Frost, Salt Lake City Weekly
"12 tracks of acoustic folky
music with pop sensibilities... Stacey Board has a gift for a
rhythmic guitar and melodic hook..."