Remembering The Music

by Anita Sandler

In the church of my car, listening to prayer in the form of music by Damaris, I have set out to find the voice and the lyrics of a musician I barely remember from over 25 years ago. So, who is Damaris and where did I ‘find her’? It was at the Deacon’s Den in Mt. Snow where I used to play with my band The Shawmut Minstrels. Damaris also played the old Vermont music circuit which back then was pretty extensive. My vague recollection was of a young woman performing solo with a strong voice, a maturity of craft…talented….professional and having fun. Women weren’t playing out like they are now….now every young girl has the dream of becoming a singer….but back then Damaris and I and Ali Lubin were out there….making our mark on Vermont and the music world.

So a few months ago, I was reading a local Vermont newspaper when I saw a review on Damaris who was playing somewhere locally. What struck me about the review….other than the name which rang a bell….was the fact that Damaris had what amounted to a ‘religious’ following….someone who had kept fans for all her years of performing….and who was still writing and singing from her heart and her soul and still touching and elevating and contributing to a positive world spirit….And how hard is it to stay connected to your dreams and your level of intensity you had when younger….well, it seemed that Damaris had accomplished this and was still going strong….and I remembered her and was curious….

So what do you do these days when you’re curious….you Google….so that’s what I did…and I discovered or rediscovered a real treasure. I checked out her web site and found Damaris had recorded and self-produced 5 CD’s since the ‘old days’….and… I felt an immediate connection with her words, her intention, her spirit…

Damaris is a self-taught singer songwriter. She was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, has lived in Bisbee, Arizona, played music in Vermont and all over New England, has connections in Austin, Texas, and is now in New York City at an inter-faith seminary. When I eventually e-mailed her, she talked about ‘the internal/spiritual adventure’ that runs through her music…but feels a lot of the songs felt obsolete to her by now…Being a songwriter, I know what that means…and basically it means she’s grown and her creative expression has grown…but, in reviewing her body of work as a whole, I found a continuous dialogue of discovery and introspection and searching. There is a change over the years from a quest for personal love to a quest for love of God and Spirit... trying to find God in who we are and what we do….The humble offering of her soul through her lyrics and music is a Gift. Her writing and her voice is like a moving poem. Take any phrase out of any song and you’ve got something to think about.

Her voice is so precise and poignant….sometimes reaching… reaching for a note and when she finds it, it’s like hitting a target perfectly….then she’s off into some real exciting jazz riffs… intricacies of scat and jazz that dazzle you….playing and playful and creating something that is new and fresh. Call her gospel, call her blues, call her jazz, call her folk. It’s all there when called upon and it’s all Damaris.

She is also a fine musician…a player. She is an excellent guitarist. Her rhythm guitar playing is strong and solid… and the songs she has written on banjo are wonderful instrumentals that move your feet in a dance of color…with a feeling that is part bluegrass, part Irish jig. Her non-traditional Appalachian claw-hammer style banjo picking is competent and impressive.

And she is a storyteller. A teller of her own tale… speaking to us humbly and openly about her life, her troubles and her spiritual quest. Her story is universal but her interpretation of that story in her own words put to her own music is what is so appealing.

There is something raw and open in her feelings and in her commitment to sort out and then communicate these feelings….but there is also a sense of humor and fun that will appear like an old friend.

Her first CD, Somebody’s Watching, recorded and self-produced in 1991, is a collection of original songs using guitar and vocal with the exception of acoustic bass and violin on several numbers, and 2 jazz tunes featuring Dan Dewalt on piano. This CD won her the Best Female Vocalist Award for New England Tri-State Region and The Listeners Selection Top 10 New Folk Artists on WKNH FM.

In 1998 she released ‘Singing For Our Lives’, an amazing collection of original 4 and 5 part accapella music. This CD, recorded in Wilmington, Vermont, is radically different. She wrote, composed, and produced this hauntingly amazing celebration of Women’s Spirit. Her expertise in every aspect of this production will literally spin your head around….it’s extraordinary….and when you include this in her body of work, you can see the breadth of her talent. It has been compared to ‘Sweet Honey In The Rock’, the legendary African-American accapella group….but her arrangements and lyrics are all her own…”intricate, precise, mystical and passionate…”

‘Road Songs’, recorded in 1998, was the result of Damaris’ brief ‘career’ as long-haul truck driver…driving long enough to write an album’s worth of folky, funky truck-driving road songs.

In 2000 she co-produced one of her most ‘seasoned’ CDs, ‘Pushing Through” with guitarist Sean Trachtman. Her development as vocalist, musician and songwriter has been elevated. She takes more risks, revealing herself in a rich backdrop of jazz, R&B, and folk…and her lyrics and search for ‘the answers’ reach out to touch us. One of the singles on this CD, ‘In An Instant”, won the 2001 Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Competition.

‘All Life’s Riches’, recorded in 2002, truly showcases Damaris’ song-writing and vocal abilities. There is a simplicity and yet an elevated level of accomplishment both vocally and instrumentally. A beautiful growth of Spirit as woman and creative being given a gift to translate her inner dialogue with words and melody and voice….a magic package.

Always the seeker, she is not afraid to talk about the struggle, the questions, the search for answers.

And finally, with 45, her latest CD, and my personal favorite, Damaris takes you into her life as time machine. It is a real reality show….the highs and lows, the dreams and the journey. In ‘It May As Well Be Carnegie Hall’ (which was recorded live in another CD), she accomplishes something unique….a way to communicate a life style….from the gig to the performance to what goes on in the mind of the performer….and in a burst of scat, leads us to the bright lights and what motivates the artist. Another favorite… which could easily become a spiritual like Amazing Grace, is ‘Answering Love’. “Answering Love it is a call…all we do is for love that’s all”…a chant for the Spirit…a chant for our times…It is a holy offering to Spirit. She overlays vocals in a chorus of Damaris…each overlay taking you higher.

These pieces of Spirit are the backbone of her latest writing and vocalizing. There’s an Indian chant at the end of Soothsayer…just a few bars…that will cut right to the bone. No words…just sound…taking us with her into another dimension.

E-mailing me about her seminary experience she writes…”It literally melts the walls you didn’t even know were standing. It’s a deeply internal experience that in turn, affects relationship to everything in one’s life. Will this impact my music? Absolutely. Will I continue to write and record and perform more? I can only assume the answer is yes. And I look forward to all of it.”

And I can only add that I, too, am looking forward to all of it. I have signed on as a fan, a friend, and a follower.