The Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae (Bella Union)
There are two ways of looking at Laura Veirs, a songwriting geologist from Colorado. One is unforgiving: why would anyone bother with Veirs when her obvious role model, Gillian Welch, does the plaintive, literate hillbilly thing so brilliantly? The second is more pragmatic: Welch has released only four albums, so at least Veirs can provide some variety. Listen to The Triumphs and Travails, though, and you are quickly drawn to the kinder judgment. First released in 2001, this reissue comes in the wake of last year’s moderately successful Carbon Glacier LP.
The Triumphs and Travails. . . begins cartoonishly, with the titular heroine setting the jailhouse on fire, and it occasionally feels as though Veirs uses western tradition as a hokey affectation (Welch, who comes from a comparably academic background, is never so transparent). Gradually, though, Veirs reveals her individual strengths. Vivid evocations of nature and landscape underpin Blue Ink and Through December, both quietly outstanding songs. The lovely Raven Marching Band, meanwhile, has a distant ambient hum and a dissonant coda, suggesting that Veirs is strongest when she untethers herself from country convention and, by extension, unflattering comparisons.
John Mulvey