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Noam Weinstein
A Glimpse at the Campfire's Cutting Edge

Brattleboro, Vt,  August 24  -  Once, years ago, my mother  -  a dyed-in-the-wool jazz fan  -  sent a Bangor Daily News clipping about a local Maine singer, Jess Tardy, thinking I might be interested in Tardy's music.  She got that right.  And by sending that Bangor Daily News notice, my mother set off a complex chain of events that eventually launched a copy of We're All Going There (CD, www.eNoam.com, 2006), the latest album by Tardy's friend, Noam Weinstein, into my mailbox.

Weinstein is a capable singer-songwriter-guitarist whose greatest strength may be as a writer with a surprisingly broad range.  In a charming turn in a September 2006 Vermont Guardian interview, Weinstein's friend and fellow musician, Mieka Pauley, said, "As a songwriter, the constant thought on all our minds is 'everything that can be written has already been written.'"  But then, she said, she would give in to her "super-fan" side, when listening to one of Weinstein's compositions alone in her car, and think, "Noam has found the very last good idea for a song."

There is no question about it, his subject matter can be inventive.

Asked about his musical inspirations, Weinstein said, "As a singer-songwriter I've been deeply influenced both by many of the giants  -  John Prine, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, etc.  -  and by many of my peers and friends  -  people like Jess [Tardy], Naomi Sommers, Frank Tedesso, Mieka Pauley, Greta Gertler, Rose Polenzani, Richard Julian, Anita Suhanin, and lots more!   I've also had some amazing guitar teachers over the years.  One of my biggest influences has been my father, who doesn't write music but has given me countless hours of listening and feedback on my songs ever since I started writing."

To my mind, Randy Newman was the surest name to appear on this influences list, while some of Weinstein's own writing recalls the work of Leonard Cohen.

Weinstein's full-length releases, Probably Human and We're All Going There, feature studio bands with exceptional ability at ensemble playing.  Asked what he looks for in a band member, he explained, "I've been extremely lucky to play almost exclusively with people who not only support me, but inspire me  -  as musicians, and often as human beings.   I guess that's the biggest thing: an ability to be simultaneously supportive and provocative, which is crucial to me with my friends, too! (To love me but to challenge me.)  At the same time, if I had to choose between someone I admired as a musician, and someone I admired as a person, I'd probably pick the latter.  But thankfully the two have generally gone together!"

Since in the recording studio at least the emphasis of the instrumentation seems to be on the band as a whole, not on individual soloists, one might wonder about the role of his own guitar playing in a Noam Weinstein band.  "Guitar's my first instrument and my first love," he said.  "On good days it helps me sing in a way I can't with my voice."

A lot of Weinstein's music could fit into a triangle with corners represented by Tom Waits, Randy Newman, and Leonard Cohen, with a Rose Polenzani niche in there somewhere.  But since Jess Tardy first recommended Weinstein years ago, I have noticed that an occasional original song is more in keeping with pre-rock era "standards": a body of classic work often collectively called the American Songbook.   A couple opportunities have presented themselves to inquire whether Weinstein has this music in his background  -  in his education and personal listening  -  and it is perfectly astonishing that mostly he does not.  In our recent interview, for instance, when asked whether he had a listening or performing history with this sort of material, he answered, "Unfortunately not enough!   It's something I need to do more of; when I have, I've been floored."

Weinstein is a talented songwriter who no doubt has the ability to add a song or two to the standards repertoire.

Could Weinstein think of a song  -  famous or obscure  -  from someone else's pen that he really wishes he could have written?   "So many!" he enthused.  "An example of an older one would be Bill Withers' 'Lean on Me.'  An example of a newer one  -  to which I was turned on by my high-school friend Mike Levenson  -  is a song Evan Dando of the Lemonheads recorded called 'Hard Drive,' which was written by the young Australian songwriter Ben Lee."

Oftentimes whether or not a new album is promoted with the physical product known as a "single," there will still be one cut or more which gets suggested as a strong introduction.  Asked if We're All Going There comes with such a recommendation, Weinstein answered, "Hmm . . .   I'm not sure!   The title track?   'Too Small'?"   I definitely agree with those choices and take the liberty of adding "Green to Yellow," "Other People's Hearts," and "Sail On."  There is a lot to like on other tracks as well, and close listeners will pick up some very funny lines sprinkled here and there across the disc.

A passage from one Weinstein song brought about a memorable moment.  "One of my favorite gigs," he recalled, "was an acoustic set in April 2005 at the New York International Auto Show, where among the other acts was a woman on stilts dressed as a tree, who turned to me with a confused expression whenever I sang the line 'I'm sorry, oceans, I'm sorry, trees.'"

It is often intriguing to learn who a performing musician has been listening to who he or she thinks popular music fans would want to be hearing and hearing about.

"Over the last couple of years, Greta Gertler has pointed me in the direction of a few relatively low-profile artists who became quick favorites of mine, including Lee Feldman (http://LeeFeldman.com), Dan Bryk (http://Bryk.com), and Pete Galub (http://PeteGalub.com).  And there's no subsitute for CindyCast (http://www.cindyhowes.net/) as a way to find new artists."

Asked if he has played Club Passim's Cutting Edge of the Campfire festival before, Weinstein said, "Yes.   I love how unpredictable each of the sets is: sometimes the combinations of performers and styles works great, and sometimes not, but that's the fun of it!"

As for his own upcoming performance, Weinstein said, "I'll be playing solo, but doing a round with two super-talented friends  -  Jess Tardy and Matt Kanelos  -  and hopefully we'll join each other on a couple of songs."

Much of the fun of a Cutting Edge of the Campfire festival involves getting acquainted with unfamiliar acts.   I don't recall ever seeing the names of many of the artists booked into this year's fest.  Some of the artists, not already named in this article, who I have heard and enjoyed include Lisa Bastoni, Rick Berlin, Gregory Douglass, Jennifer Kimball (my harmony heroine), Rachel McCartney, Rose Polenzani, and Naomi Sommers.

For a few laughs along with a glimpse as to why this Club Passim festival is called Cutting Edge, cut a path to Noam Weinstein's Campfire set.

• Who:   Noam Weinstein, With Jess Tardy and Matt Kanelos
• Where:   Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival, Club Passim, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• When:   Saturday, September 1
• For more information:   www.enoam.com/playtimes.shtml

Noam Weinstein is also at New York's Broome Street Fair (an outdoors festival) on Sunday, September 9; and at the Brooklyn Songwriter's Exchange, with Lee Feldman and Rebecca Pronsky, in the lovely suburb of Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, September 30.

"I definitely agree with those choices and take the liberty"   We're All Going There  -  easily Noam Weinstein's best album to date  -  bears repeated listening uncommonly well.  At first I thought the disc might run out of steam a little toward the end.  But first impressions are not always correct nor are they always lasting impressions.  When getting home from jogging, on a couple occasions I have checked the titles of the tunes that had been running through my head, and several  -  "High Seas," "Normal," "Not on the Lips"  -  along with "Other People's Hearts," come in the second half of the disc.  So actually the melodies on this album are very strong from start to finish.  And it is the exceptional if somewhat eccentric songwriting that allows We're All Going There to blossom through repeated playing.  The first-rate production is another factor that causes this album to wear remarkably well.

You stumble blind and count your blessings then tell yourself the total's not depressing . . .

Weinstein's "Normal" reminds me of a favorite line from a favorite song by my music heroes, Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker.  The Ian & Sylvia composition is my own personal theme song, "The Ballad of the Ugly Man."   And the line in question is this: "For I have been too long a toad to be a prince for you."  I can't get enough of it.  If you get a chance, do compare "The Ballad of the Ugly Man" to Noam Weinstein's "Normal."

Personal note:   My CD player, of nearly 20 years, lately suffered an untimely death  -  untimely, at least, from my point of view.  When writing the main text of this notice, I was able to hear Weinstein's We're All Going There enough times to confirm my high regard for this recording but not enough times to take much in the way of notes nor to select and quote some of his most choice lyrics.  Since writing this notice, I have been loaned a CD changer, which I am trying to learn to use without the benefit of the owner's manual nor an essential part, the player's remote control which is needed for such uses as programming tracks  -  a function I normally employ nearly all the time.