Untitled Document
I attended a folk-music conference in the last week
of September in the Chicago area — Techny Towers in Northbrook, to be
exact — called the Folk Alliance Midwest Region (or FARM) Gathering.
The weekend event attracted around 100 musicians and several DJs, booking
agents, promoters, presenters, and others. There were workshops on
alternate guitar tunings and partial capos, house concerts and music
festivals, creating Web sites, and promoting careers. The conference was
highlighted by nightly performances by folk musicians of all flavors. We
heard purveyors of traditional music known as “trads” —
singer/songwriters by the dozen, one cowboy yodeler, and a few husband/wife
duos. Some were famous in their circles, others desperate to get noticed,
and a few just plain glad to be there rubbing elbows with fellow musicians
trying to figure out how to make a living singing songs.
Of all the performers, though, one act stood out
above the rest. Calling themselves D-Squared and hailing from Mayer, Ariz.,
a little village about halfway between Phoenix and Flagstaff, the players
seemed to care more about their music than about promoting their shtick,
which is rare at a conference designed for shameless self-promotion. One of the husband/wife teams, D-Squared is Don
Charles and Deb Gessner, both songwriters of distinction and originality
and gifted and talented instrumentalists. Charles mostly plays a capoed
guitar in particular tunings but strums a mandola and banjo as well.
Gessner plucks a full-size harp and plays the concertina and accordion,
too. His voice is a well-worn baritone, with a hint of Iowa folk singer
Greg Brown’s phrasing but not his persistent overearnestness. Her
voice is angelic and reaching, matching the soft and fluttering tone of the
harp with ease. Their voices blend but balance each other, creating a
unique sound from song to song, both in harmony and apart. Not only do they write incredibly deep and
provocative lyrical songs with familiar yet distinct melodies, but they
also include instrumental pieces with striking tonal interplay,
interpreting folk melodies and old songs with fresh originality. Did I mention that I really like these guys? I
haven’t even gotten to the part about spending hours in conversation
with the couple at the FARM Gathering, discussing philosophy, ranching,
farming, water rights, and land management in the American West; dry heat
vs. Midwestern humidity; and even some musical ideas. Later that week they
came and spent the night at our house while traveling between gigs in Iowa
and Indiana. That’s another fascinating aspect of the
couple’s existence: They live on the road a good part of the year.
Deb books tours — such as a recent run up through Wyoming and
Montana, then over and down through the Northwest and California and back
to Arizona — and stay at campgrounds when convenient, sleeping in
their van. With Yippy the dog as their lone companion, these modern-day troubadours live
as musical nomads, combining contemporary methods with age-old style. Suffice it to say, they are the real thing —
out playing music because they love to, want to and need to and because
they can. Honor them with a listen as they stop in Springfield for a show
while passing back through this way from Ohio, heading to Missouri, Kansas,
and Colorado before returning home to Arizona.
D-Squared (www.dsquaredmusic.com) performs at 7:30-9
p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Trout Lily CafО (218 S. Sixth St.,
217-391-0101). A donation of $10 is suggested.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2007.
