March 2001 Artist: Merrie Amsterburg
CD: Little Steps
Label: Zoe Records
Released: 2000
Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Acoustic Guitar
January 2001 Merrie Amsterburg: Slow Burn
by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

Singer-songwriter Merrie Amsterburg plays all sorts of stringed instruments - acoustic, electric, and baritone guitars, mandolin, bouzouki - but the sound that opens her latest CD, Little Steps (Zöe/Rounder), is not the familiar twang of pick on steel but the deep hum of her washing machine. "It was an inspiration," she says of the recording debut of her home appliance. "Every time I did laundry, the washing machine had a certain drone, and I would always sing to it. I thought, 'Well, I am just going to try and record it. Who knows if it's going to work? I will see what happens."
What happened was the CDs title track, which features a melody and mood inspired by Sufi devotional songs and delivered by Amsterburg's crystal-clear soprano. It's a hypnotic entrée to an album whose touch points include jangly folk rock, hushed guitar-and-voice confession, Latin beats, and lunge keyboards, but which impresses the listener not by its eclecticism but by the depth of its sound. Little Steps represents a big step forward from Amsterburg's first solo CD, Seasons Of Rain, which had already carried her a long way from her days with the popular Boston rock bank the Natives.
"It took me a while for me to find my own voice, who I was and what I was putting across - to trust my own instincts," she says. "With some people it just takes longer than others." Amsterburg's instincts, supported by producer Mike Deneen and the guitar work of her husband, Peter Linton, lead her toward a slow-burning pop sound with a palpable air of mystery - think Aimee Mann and Hejira-era Joni Mitchell with a dash of Chrissie Hynde. During the recording of Little Steps, Amsterburg's home ADAT was used not only to record the washing machine but also the background vocals and several instruments, including the rhythm box-equipped Baldwin organ and mariachi-style trumpet parts (all played by Amsterburg). It's a beautiful example of combining home and studio tracking (as well as hi- and lo-fi production values) to achieve both intimacy and clarity.
Back in her days with the Natives, Amsterburg played a Telecaster, but now her main ax is an acoustic-electric Danelectro Convertible. She creates nice, open voicings by tuning the top string down a step to D, and on three tracks of the new album ("State Highway 16," "Heart of My Head," and "Different Today") She tunes to D minor (D A D G A F).
Her exploration of other stringed instruments began when she heard local mandolinist Jimmy Ryan and was hooked. "A friend who has a guitar repair shop had an old mandolin lying in the corner," she recalls, "and I said, 'What are you doing with that?' He said, 'Nothing. It's beyond hope.' So he gave it to me, and I strung it up, but the action was so high that I had to have it tuned down lower. I really like that lower register, especially with my voice, so I started looking for something lower than mandolin." Hence her arrival at the bouzouki, which she tunes G D A D.
Amsterburg uses all of these instruments for songwriting - so she winds up with a lot of cases at gigs. "Yeah, that's the problem, because then you have to bring them," she says with a laugh. "The tuning is so unique on the bouzouki and mandolin. And the washing machine, I can't bring that!"

Pitch Weekly - pitch.com
Tuesday, January 20, 2001
Best Albums of 2000: Critics' Picks
By Scott Wilson

1. Yo La Tengo And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out Matador
2. Belle and Sebastian Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like a Peasant; Lazy Line Painter Jane Matador
3. David Gray White Ladder RCA/ATO
4. Merrie Amsterburg Little Steps Zöe/Rounder

Pretty-voiced Merrie Amsterburg makes gently seductive, feminine music. And all Lilith Fair jokes aside, she proves that it's still possible to make a record in the Sarah McLachlan mode that justifies the attention. Amsterburg probably won't earn that attention this time around, but it's not for lack of talent or professionalism. Little Steps has the makings of a dorm-room classic: sharp hooks, a strong point of view, and just enough vocal eccentricity (listen to how she sings the word that gives "Atmosphere" its title) to distinguish her from her Felicity - rotation competitors.

20th Century Guitar

The Rounder records affiliate label Zoe Records scored big last year with the great Jules Shear album entitled Allow Me. Zoe attains those same impressive pop heights with the second solo album from Boston-based Merrie Amsterburg.
Some of the elements in Ms. Amsterburg's arsenal include her top songwriting and vocal skills, and as an instrumentalist she excels on 6 and 12 string electric guitars, acoustic and baritone guitars and Indian banjo to name a few. Lending a hand are some fine players including Peter Linton (guitar, lap steel). Compared to both Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell, Amsterburg is clearly in a class of her own.

Portsmouth Herald

I've never heard Merrie Amsterburg before hearing this CD. She's an interesting musician, singing, and playing a variety of different instruments. Her music is fascinating, an interesting blend of folk, pop, with some touches of Latin. The songs are storylike in character, with some interesting grooves like on the subtle latin- influenced cut "Undertow."
Amsterburg's vocal quality is high, lightly nasal, but in a pleasant way. Her style is more like she's having a conversation than just pure singing. Her music ranges from ethereal to nice light groove-oriented material. The most rauous cut is the tune "Different Today", which is as close as the CD comes to having an all out rocker. But it's the more minimalist tunes like the title cut "Little Steps" or the beautiful closer "Sheltering" that show the fine musical capabilities of this superb musician. A talent to watch for.

Worcester Magazine
Top 10 CDs of 2000
by Mark J. Cadigan

3. Merrie Amsterburg
"Little Steps"
Zoe/Rounder

The sublime beauty of Amsterburg's voice and entrancingly melodic nature of her songs make this a rare audio treat. The lyrics sometimes deal with knotty emotions, but the caressing touch of Amsterburg's singing and the tasteful accompaniment are like a mind massage for listeners. This is pop music of exceedingly high caliber.

Amsterburg's voice is the aural analog of her photo on the cover: it's like delicate white porcelain, beautiful in its fragility and liable to shatter at the slightest blow. She's well served by the understated backing band, whose proficient playing is always aimed at showcasing Amsterburg's gorgeous vocals. Couple that with her bittersweet lyrics, and what we have here is a softer, gentler but equally world-weary Aimee Mann. A home run hit into the leftfield.

Friday Morning Quarterback
Cherry Hill, NJ

Amsterburgs last album, Season Of Rain, was an emotional album full of gut-wrenching songs. Litle Steps is more spiritual, with theme of hope running through every piece. this collection of ballads and spirited Pop songs showcase Amsterburg's best instrument...her voice. Althernately smoky and velvety smooth, her voice is the star. "Design," "Radio," "Undertow," "Little Steps," "State Highway 16," "Atmosphere," and "Sheltering."

By Rob Weir

Merrie Amsterburg Little Steps (Zöe/Rounder): Merrie Amsterburg has an unforgettable voice that's like a cross between the vocals of a kewpie doll and an amazon. She's been compared to everyone from Tori Amos to Beth Orton and also brings to mind a pop version of Bernadette Peters. Her Lyrics and arrangements are equally memorable. There are very few places on Little Steps where some instrument isn't ringing, jangling or melding witha complementary sound. And what instruments! In addition to the expected guitars and percussion, tehre's also bouzouki, trumpet, harmonium, Indian banjo and Amsterbrg's washing machine. She sets her synthesizers to emulate everything from sonic filler to vibraphone. Her songs are just as quirky and risk-laden. Both the title track and "Mr. Romeo" pulse with sexual tension, while "Atmosphere" explores death. Little Steps ought to provide a giant leap to stardom.

Four Stars ****

There are certain artists who always seem to get the short end of the stick...artists who have tremendous respect from their peers, and are capable of emotionally moving virtually anyone who is exposed to their music--public and press folk alike. Merrie Amsterburg fits that description perfectly. From 1988 through 1994. Amsterburg fronted the highly acclaimed Boston based outfit The Natives before stepping out on her own. She has since garnered further praise from the Boston press, a vote as Top Female soloist in Boston's Acoustic Underground and has won a Boston Music Award. In 1997 she released her debut album, Season Of Rain, which amply displayed her mature song writing skills and in 1999, Zoe re-released the disc with two bonus tracks to help grease the wheels for her sophomore effort Little Steps. Hopefully, this'll be the album that'll get Merrie Amsterburg the national attention she deserves.
Clearly the reference to little steps in the title describes the way most of us grow as we experience life's challenges, because musically Amsterburg has taken huge strides with this album. Her thoughtful and poignant song writing remains at the core of her music; however, the production approach to Amsterburg's songs has expanded with the addition of strings, keyboard, textures and even some subtle brass tones to the basic mix of guitar, bass and drums. Helping her to focus this broader vision was producer Mike Denneen, who served as an objective guide in the recording process. The core musicians include her longtime partner Peter Linton (guitar, lap steel, vocals), along with Paul Bryan (bass, synths, percussion) and John Sands (drums, percussion), but much of the sonic effect was provided by Amsterburg herself, who not only sang, but played guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, trumpet, banjo and keys. Add to this the special contributions of some guest players and she was blessed with an able group of musicians to give her songs an adventurous feel.
This more ambitious treatment becomes quite clear as you listen to such gems as "Design," "Little Steps," "Radio," "Heart Of My Head," and "Different Today," yet none of them compromise the artist's integrity. As CMJ puts it, "Amsterburg's lyrics are as tender and personal as her own voice, and the combination of the two is just the topping on the already superb effort."

There's a delicacy to Merrie Amsterburg's voice, with its cascading phrases and little fillips, that makes it perfect for romantic introspection, that makes it perfect for romantic introspection. It helps that she surrounds her rich-but-airy singing in a warm bath of distinctly organic sound, from her own guitar, mandolin, boukouki (like a mandolin) and trumpet, to the support of her tasteful bass/drums/guitar trio, and that she's unafraid to write an outright lullaby like "Sheltering." et beneath Amsterburg's comforting surface the sentiments of tunes like the prayerful "Atmosphere" and the lost-soul ballad "Design" embrace a cynicism and discontent similar to the love songs of Aimee Mann. She also makes room on this CD, the follow up to her more singer/songwriterly 1996 break-out Season Of Rain, for modest experiments. The gentle laser-beam textures of guitar that slice through "Heart Of My Head" gracefully raise the tune above the usual triple-A fare. Further, "Little Steps" is a sweetly devotional number with a Middle Eastern edge that sounds like a four-track home recording. Its cheap drum machine, Casio-like keyboard and bouzouki serve an inviting vocal melody that's one of Amsterburg's best performances. In fact, her voice is consistently her most daring instrument, whether she's starting the single "Radio" with just snare and kick drum behind her or twisting syllables into a distinctive emotional syntax that speaks beyond words.

Boston based singer-songwriter Merrie Amsterburg's second album is a quiet little triumph filled with gentle yet unforgettable melodies, assured playing and her patented little-girl-lost vocals.
Setting her songs to backgrounds ranging from folk-rock to electro-pop, Amsterburg writes poetic, evocative lyrics that tackle romance in all of its bittersweetness. But Amsterburg also proves she's no mere cooing chick singer: In addition to writing all the songs on "Little Steps," she also plays guitars and keyboards to trumpet, Indian banjo and washing machine.
Reminiscent at times of the wok of Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Kate Bush, but very much sui generis, "Little Steps" is a thrill--insightful, carefully crafted from beginning to end, and filled with beauty.

Be Merrie!
Haunting and pretty, Merrie Amsterburg's songs are like miniature worlds into which one may escape for three minutes at a time. The textures and word-pictures she creates on Little Steps (Zöe/Rounder) let you fall as deeply into each tune as your soul requires. As if it isn't enough that Amsterburg sings like an angelic demon and writes poetic (yet accessible) lyrics with seductive melodies, she also plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, trumpet, banjo, harmonium, piano and organ. A classic over-achiever; I'd hate her if her work didn't make me feel so good. Never approaching the bombast of rock, her exquisite band (Paul Bryan, bass, Peter Linton, electric guitar, and John Sands, drums) percolates at almost-boil throughout the project. The production from Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Guster) is about as close to perfect as you're ever going to hear. If it were a major-label release, this recording would be instantly considered for all sorts of writing, performing, producing and engineering Grammy nominations. As it's on Zoe, fans will have to be content with strong word-of-mouth and some frenzied e-mail congratulations. Merrie Amsterburg's Little Steps is one of the best CDs of the year.

There is a teary-eyed optimism to Merrie Amsterburg's music, the kind of strength that comes from holding on to a dream even as hope fades. The songs on "Little Steps" express not so much filed romances as changing times, the shift in mood and perspective that comes when people move past each other, propelled along by an adventure that is bigger than two and is best managed alone.
Amsterburg is based in Boston, where she is a popular and award-winning star of the alt-rock and contemporary folk scenes.
Many influences are present throughout this atmospheric collection -- the lonely cry of a Celtic ballad on "Little Steps," or a happy-go-lucky new country lilt on "Design." Amsterburg plays trumpet on a couple of tunes, electric and acoustic guitars and the exotic bouzouki Indian banjo and harmonium on others.
Her vocals are earnest but understated, often playing right below churning accompaniment of lazy, droning guitar and bright, chipper mandolin.
Moods brood in the arrested motion of a hot summer's afternoon; romance boils against a backdrop of moonlight and shade. "Undertow" is a snapshot of breathless anticipation as the world jangles by; "State Highway 16" is full of languid regrets, a dreamy waltz against the passage of time.
Amsterburg's music is full of surprises, not the kind that leap out with a screech and a squeal, but the deep, mysterious kind that settle deep in your soul and reveal themselves slowly. Listening to "Little Steps" is like returning to the scene of a crime, to a place where nostalgia never quite lives up to the reality consequences have made.

The first impression was of darkness. A lowering gray sky, a steady murmurous rain, slivers of sunshine at the edge of the clouds, a rolling landscape with distinctly low textures lurking just below the surface. In the eye of the storm was a gentle confusion, an attempt to make sense of one's surroundings. The occasion was Season of Rain, the debut release from Merrie Amsterburg.

But that was four years ago. Now, after nearly two years of extensive touring, and nearly as long writing and recording, Merrie returns with her new release, Little Steps, distributed through a unique partnership between the Zoë/ Rounder, and Q-Division labels. Although four years may seem like a long time in between albums, the time was not spent idly watching her success. "Season of Rain came out nationally in 1997, and I did a boatload of touring," Merrie explains over Dunkin Donuts cups in Coolidge Corner recently. "I remember putting together my tax stuff, and I had over $700.00 in toll receipts! I can't write on the road, so I didn't really write much in '97; I was basically just supporting that record. We did a leg of Paula Cole's tour and some other things in '98; radio shows, in-Stores, interviews, and more touring of the East Coast and Midwest, though not as extensively as in 1997. I was just getting back into writing in 1998, and I recorded the new record in 1999. We also did a West Coast leg of the Aimee Mann tour last fall. If you just look at the years it feels like a long time, but when I think about the work, it really hasn't been that long." Season of Rain established Merrie as a viable national artist and set the stage for a triumphant return.

"It's kind of like dark pop music, although this new record isn't as dark as the first record," Merrie states. While Little Steps retains the same dark textures of Season of Rain, the clouds have lifted a bit, and a more "up" side of Merrie Amsterburg is now revealed. She explains the difference thusly: "I think that there are some songs on here that have that same darkness as Season of Rain, but I think that this, overall, is more of a pop record and less of a thematic record. Season had more of a theme running through it. I think also texturally there's some darkness to that record, some of the sounds. I don't think this record has as much of that. It's lighter in some respects." Much of that textural darkness derives from Merrie's use of unconventional rock instruments such as mandolin, baritone guitar, and bouzouki. The low register instruments can make even the most uplifting pop sound a bit wistful, and this borderline mournfulness is an integral aspect of the Merrie Amsterburg sound. She augments the low end with six-and twelve-string electric and acoustic guitars, Indian banjo, harmonium, piano, organ, and miscellaneous keyboards. Oh, by the way, Merrie is kind of talented.

Little Steps is a logical follow-up release, in that it expands upon the sound established on the previous release without being a radical departure. Songs such as the title track, "East by East," and "Opal Moon" are inspired, and a great deal of care is evident throughout. As Merrie puts it, "Sometimes when you're writing and you're inspired, the hardest thing is trying to get that inspiration down on paper and in song. When you get this inspiration, wherever it comes from, you just try to interpret it so that it's true. I don't really consider myself a song-crafter, where I say (effecting a pompous 'tude) 'this song specifically has to have this bridge and fifteen chord progressions!' I just try to be true to what the inspiration is." This approach has served her well.

On the lyrical side, tracks such as "My Romeo," "Radio," and "Heart of My Head" are fairly self-explanatory; others run a bit deeper. In these days of stalkers and disturbed fans, Merrie is understandably reluctant to give up the whole Store lyrically, stating "I don't agree when people try to delve into the private lives of artists, musicians, or actors. There's got to be a line, like when you're with your accountant, you don't say 'Hey, how's your marriage; what's going on with the wife?!' He provides a service, and that's it!" She is totally comfortable leaving a bit of ambiguity and allowing listeners to plug their own life situations into her lyrics. A little bit of insight goes a long way, however. If the title track sounds a bit industrial, it might be due to the instrumentation. "Little Steps was inspired by my washing machine!" says Merrie. "I've heard that the common key of engines is Bb. I was interested in modal music, chants, and stuff like that, and whenever I did my laundry, I noticed the pitch of the washing machine. I kind of started singing to it and decided 'Y'know, I'd love to record my washing machine!'" (For all of you vintage buffs, Merrie exclusively plays an early '70s Kenmore, gold with simulated wood paneling.) "'Design' started out as a keyboard song, but I made it work on guitar. I don't want to be too specific, but it's about trying to have a clear vision. If you don't have a clear vision of what you want to do, you're going to have a potluck version of it and it probably won't be what you really want." "'East by East' is kind of about a ghost; just a feeling of a ghost in an abandoned house. There's an old house near where my parents live that's abandoned, an old farmhouse in this big field, so it's that feeling where you always think about the people that used to live there and what their lives were like. It's fictionI think! For some reason I really connect with that song; it's really visual for me, especially when I'm singing it live."

"'State Highway 16': Live mix. That's a testimony to how great the players are. That was John Sands on drums, Paul Bryan on bass, and Pete Linton on guitar. I was in the control room singing and playing, so they could hardly see me! Bruce MacFarlane did a great job engineering that one. That was my live band but now they're off with Aimee Mann. So I've got Steve Scully from Francine on drums and Joe McMahon from Senor Happy on bass. Great musicians, and great people just to do a hang with." "'Different Today' is about having an exquisite dream that haunts you when you're awake." "Opal Moon": "I have no idea where that song came from. People have different ideas of what it's about, but for me it's about finding comfort in nature. No matter how horrible the world can be, there's always something very soothing about nature itself. It seems to have a natural rhythm and cycle that's comforting." A delicate balance is achieved between the instruments on all tracks, and especially where baritone guitar and bouzouki are featured. The low strings lend an almost eastern tinge to the mix, counterbalancing the Brit-mod foundation: "I've been listening to some Indian/ Persian stuff," Merrie explains, "and also a lot of Celtic stuff, and in a way the two genres are very similar. But ultimately, I don't think that there's anybody that hasn't been influenced by The Beatles and The Kinks." How did Merrie Amsterburg pick up the instruments that practically define her sound? Almost by accident. "Bouzouki came from playing mandolin, and the first mandolin I got, the action was so bad on it that I had to tune it lower. So when I actually went to buy a mandolin-type instrument, I thought of a lower sound. The bouzouki is actually an octave mandolin, so I kind of fell into that. Baritone guitar was a little bit of an accident. I bought this six string bass, which I loved, but I found myself playing a lot of the same things that I would play on a regular guitar, just an octave lower. A friend was playing baritone, so he said 'Hey, you should try stringing it as a baritone,' so I did and I just fell in love with that sound. It's low enough where you have that deep resonance, but it still has that clarity on the low end for playing chords, unlike the six-string bass, which just gets murky." Merrie is no slouch with brass or ivory, either. " Trumpet was really my first instrument. I played trumpet until my second year in college, and actually won a scholarship, believe it or not. Piano I just kind of fooled around with, which I'd been doing since I was a kid. I took lessons for three or four months, and learned everything I was doing wrong!" Oh, by the way, Merrie is kind of talented. The textures lay well with each other, and all are brought out by the production of Mike Denneen. "Mike is an excellent musician; not many people know that he's such a great player," Merrie raves. "He's a great engineer; he knows how to get sounds." Denneen can be heard playing Chamberlin on "My Romeo" and Wurlitzer on "Undertow." Little Steps was one of the last projects to be recorded at the old Q-Division studios in Boston's South End, except for some of the "lo-fi" stuff, which was recorded at Merrie's home. "For Season of Rain I did some recording at home, but I got a chance to do a lot more at home this time, which was a lot of fun. 'Opal Moon,' a lot of that is a demo that I did at home. I brought in a lot of songs for Mike to hear and we were trying to pick out what songs to put on the record, and that demo had a certain charm to it. We redid some things, but it was great to do some of it at home as well." Bruce MacFarlane, Kevin Pickering, and Colin Rhinesmith also assisted on the recording and mixing, and Jonathan Wyner and Colin Decker mastered the disc at Mworks. Season of Rain laid the foundation for Little Steps mostly in allowing Merrie to establish a solid national and international fanbase to return to. As can be imagined, she is anxious to get back to work. "I hope that I can have enough people enjoy what I do where I can make a living and get health insurance and stuff like that. The artistic goal is to continue to grow and do another record; hopefully this record will allow me to do that and have enough time to be able to work on a new record." Although the road is hardly glamorous, especially when working with a small, independent label, Merrie at least enjoys full label support, a rare situation in this day and age of corporate bottom lines. "Q-Division has been great," she says. "They're a small label, so they don't really have extensive resources for tour support, but they've been great. And Rounder has been real supportive as well." Rounder Records, the parent company of Zoë Records, has formed a partnership with Q-Division, and last fall Season of Rain was re-released with two new tracks (a stark cover of The Police's "Walking on the Moon" and "Patchwork"). This partnership allows for the distribution powers of a major label with the artistic allowance of an indie; just what every musician dreams about.

The new century dawns with great promise for Merrie Amsterburg. She has managed to grow and expand upon an already unique sound, she has a strong fanbase ready for the new release, and a label that knows how to get said release out to the masses. The clouds are parting, and the sky is now the limit. Look for Merrie to follow in the footsteps of Tracy Bonham and the Bosstones to international acclaim. Go forth and prosper; the world is waiting.

Merrie Amsterburg with Derek Schanche of Senor Happy and Todd Spahr of the Gravy at The Lizard Lounge 07/05/00

YourSound.com Review by Steve Prygoda

I have to confess this is my first time to the Lizard Lounge. I have passed up about a hundred previous offers to sit for a spell in their comfy couches surrounded by oriental rugs; a bohemian-style, living-room atmosphere beneath a rustic Cambridge restaurant. What was I waiting for? This is a very cool room for music. Although I thought the cover was a bit steep for a summer weeknight, it would prove to be money well spent. Merrie Amsterburg and friends will appear every Wednesday night for the month of July at the Lizard.

Tonight was not shy of local talent, starting off with Todd Spahr of the Gravy/Cavedogs fame; although fame may be too strong a word as Todd was nothing but mellow, humble and funny throughout his hard-working set. Probably because he has been at it for years, Spahr has the ability to translate a fully-arranged rock songs into a stripped down, folk-fueled urban protest hymns. Managing to incorporate covers by both the Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin pretty much sums up the musical spectrum which Spahr operates in. In-between the folds of these classic rock based numbers sat Merrie, who casually accompanied Todd on mandolin and harmony vocals. But she wisely cleared the floor for Spahr's final number; I don't know if everyone got the joke when he broke into "Whole Lotta Love" but I sure did and thought it was a total gas.

Merrie began her performance off to a rapt audience of fourteen with a beautiful, Brian Wilson-ish lullaby performed on a battery-operated, ultra-cheap Casio keyboard complete with samba beat. She then informs us that it's a number just written, tentatively titled "Everybody wants to believe it's not you" but Amsterburg fears that title may be too long. Actually, it couldn't be more perfect. Fleshing out the rest of the set was guitarist Peter Linton and percussionist Jeff Sands. Merrie played from her catalog of sultry, folkspun songs consisting of lush, tasteful arrangements that draw comparisons to Bonnie Raitt and Tori Amos. Linton's tasteful fretwork made guitar hacks like me want to never plug in again, as he is the driving force behind Amsterburg's textured melodies. The enchanted fourteen in attendance managed to make enough noise to give Amsterburg a well-deserved encore.

Closing the night was Derek Schanche of Senor Happy, a quartet that is one of indierock's best kept secrets, but in this solo setting, songwriter Schanche is the best kind of poet: although he does not consider himself one, he writes songs about poets and clearly admires them. His laid-back, bluesy style is what most listeners key in on, but I relish the fact that Schanche can turn a phrase as selective as John Ashbury or as flagrant as Dylan. One song in particular deserves to be singled out, the freshly-penned "30 West and Vine" which tells a sad story of a close friend of Schanche, a man named Bill Reynolds who was a fine poet himself and died earlier in the year. Schanche hoarsely whispers this solemn first verse:

"Shot himself, it wasn't a gun
Some said he could hurt no one
That day surely wasn't fun
Read about it in the Sun"

Besides death, there are other equally cheerful themes covered here: drinking, jealously, Jesus, and his mother. Schanche comes across a lot like a young Alex Chilton in his half-drunk, stilted delivery of oblique, finger-pickin' good pop songs fully dipped in the blues and beyond. He was just getting revved up by the time the barstools began being upturned on their tables, as his short set seemed to end way too soon.-

Steve Prygoda, YourSound.com, Inc.

CMJ New Music Report, "Must Hear" pick

"Merrie Amsterburg is an artist in the truest sense of the word.The otherwise unassuming songwriter is able to fashion beautiful and elegant song arrangements in such a way so that they feel accessible without sounding overly plain or simplistic. Proficient on a wide array of instruments, Amsterburg has a deep cache of tricks up her sleeve, which she employs most distinctly on "Radio". Singing like an excessively subdued Aimee Mann, Amsterburg mixes muted trumpets and guitar into a conventional ensemble that somehow sounds exotic. On "Little Steps", Amsterburg's smart vocals and lush compositions float far above the cliched fray of sensitive singer-songwriters."

Review by G-Man, Immedia Wire Service

"Haunting and pretty, Amsterburg's songs are like miniature worlds
into which one may escape for three minutes at a time. The textures
and word-pictures she creates let you fall as deeply into each tune
as your soul requires. As if it isn't enough that Amsterburg sings
like an angelic demon and writes poetic (yet accessible) lyrics with
seductive melodies, she also plays acoustic and electric guitar,
mandolin, bouzouki, trumpet, banjo, harmonium, piano and organ. A
classic over-achiever; I'd hate her if her work didn't make me feel
so good. Never approaching the bombast of rock, her exquisite band
(Paul Bryan, bass, Peter Linton, electric guitar, and John Sands,
drums) percolates at almost-boil throughout the project. The
production from Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Guster) is about as close
to perfect as you're ever going to hear. If it were a major-label
release, this recording would be instantly considered for all sorts
of writing, performing, producing and engineering Grammy nominations.
As it's on Zoe, fans will have to be content with strong word-of-
mouth and some frenzied e-mail congratulations. Merrie Amsterburg's
"Little Steps" is one of the best CDs of the year."

Personal best
Boston Pheonix
Cellars by Starlight by Brett Milano

Merrie Amsterburg may never recover from an experience she had as a teenager when she realized that one of her favorite love songs was addressed to a dog. "You remember `Shannon,' that really pretty song that sounded like the Beach Boys?", she asks over a drink at the Lizard Lounge. Unfortunately I do; I even remember that the artist was Henry Gross. "Right, and I used to love that song so much, until I found out he was singing about a fuckin' Irish setter. There you go -- ruined. And that affected me deeply" -- she says this with a laugh. "But that's why I don't like explaining what my songs are about."

On one level, Amsterburg doesn't have to explain what her songs are about. On her much-praised debut, Season of Rain (originally on Q Division, later re-released on Zoë), they were largely about loss, loneliness, and survival. On the new Little Steps (Zoe/Rounder), they're about all of the above, plus the willingness to move on, accept love, and come back to life. The details ring true enough that one assumes they have a base in Amsterburg's own experience -- she allows that they do but figures she's already revealed enough in the lyrics. What's important is that the songs really aren't about her. They're about whatever the listener happens to be growing through. Turning personal specifics into universals is one of the oldest and hardest tricks in the book, and it's the definition of what great pop is about.

What's unusual is that Amsterburg has been embraced by adult-contemporary radio, a medium that usually deals in gentle reassurance and easy answers. Even a great A/C writer like John Hiatt has offered his share of the latter: quit drinking, get married, drive South, and live happily ever after. It didn't have to be that way: Season of Rain sported a creative sound, half acoustic strings and half keyboard loops, that wasn't far from Beth Orton, Aimee Mann, and even Stereolab territory -- but it came out around the time that alternative radio lost interest in subtlety. She wound up playing Mountain Stage instead of Lilith, touring with Indigo Girls instead of the riot grrrls.

In all likelihood, Little Steps will also bypass the trendier outlets and go straight to WBOS, but the approach is even more eclectic. Working again with producer Mike Denneen, Amsterburg goes for a lush and melodic sound but takes an unusual path to get it. One of her favorite on-stage instruments, the bouzouki, isn't used this time; and the guitar parts are kept spare and evocative (guitarist Peter Linton has been her musical partner since the late '80s, when they played together in the pop group the Natives). But the heart of the instrumentation is a lo-fi keyboard sound that comes in part from tape loops Amsterburg made at home.

The rhythm on the title song was provided by her washing machine, of which she notes, "I've been wanting to record it for a while; it has a drone to a B-flat." Other exotic touches include a vintage organ bought for $35 at a garage sale and the trumpet that she used to play in her high-school-band days. She also points out that if you listen to the second verse of the title song, you can hear a vocal cameo by her parrot, who likes to sing along with washing machines. But the indie-style production ensures that nothing gets in the way of her voice. When she turns a lovely Bacharach-type tune on "Heart in My Head," you wind up grateful that nobody did the obvious and hired an orchestra.

That voice remains a remarkable one, drenched in aching and longing. She has a few vocal tricks -- a slight quiver here, a catch in the throat there -- that a lesser singer might overuse, but she's smart enough to save them for the most emotionally loaded moments. One such moment came last Thursday at the Lizard's disc-release party for Little Steps. After wrapping up the set with a couple of relatively upbeat numbers, she encored with "Atmosphere." Easily the most painful song on the new disc, it's an understated ballad about feeling the presence of a deceased loved one. If this were a Cat Power show, it would be the perfect occasion for the singer to break down in tears. But Amsterburg sang it with her eyes wide open and focused straight ahead, as if she were staring down a ghost.

"I've come close, but I've never lost it on stage. There are some songs that I have to rehearse enough so I can distance myself from them -- `Atmosphere' is one of those. But I think it has something that a lot of people can feel -- after Season of Rain I heard from a lot of people who'd been through a loss, and they told me it had helped them. So sometimes you just have to put things out there, because that's really what it's all about -- communication and moving people, so they don't feel so alone.

"There's a reason why I don't talk much between songs during live shows. Sometimes you go within so much that you don't know what to say when you come out. It's very close to the feeling you have when you wrote the song: the feeling of connecting with something and trying to decipher it. Usually I can still make those connections when I play something live. If I don't, then it's time to give that song a rest."

There was a time that Amsterburg did more upbeat pop. One number from that era, "My Romeo," appears on Little Steps reworked into a samba. The song was originally on one of the Natives demos that prompted Kiss main man Gene Simmons to sign the band to his label (that deal fell through because Simmons ultimately decided to scrap the label and take Kiss back on the road); the new version stands out as one of the few straightforward love songs she's written. "The Natives version got caught in record-label hell; I wasn't free to re-record it until five years were up. It's a song I always wanted to do, and it's a good one for me -- one with no unhappiness at all."

Still, she admits that she gravitates to darker material. She's even found dark corners in something as lightweight as the Police's "Walking on the Moon," which was covered on the Season of Rain reissue. "There's still a certain longing in that song that I can relate to." And she adds that her new album's agenda is more upbeat than it might seem. "When sad things happen, you wind up thinking of your responsibility to be the best person you can possibly be. And so a lot of songs on this album are about being responsible for your actions, having a clear vision of what you do. If you're not focused on what you want, you're probably going to wind up getting what you don't want."

What Amsterburg wants isn't necessarily pop stardom; she's a private enough person to have been weirded out by some of the attention she's gotten. "I want people to know about the music, that's my lot in life; but I do value my privacy. It still surprises me when I get recognized, especially if it happens when I'm walking around Jamaica Pond at seven in the morning. Most of the people I've met have been pretty cool, but there have been a few strange ones -- people who feel they're already involved with you and want to be intimate, because they think they understand who you are. There was one guy in a thrift shop who slipped me a note saying he wanted to meet me somewhere. That's as far as it got."

The most uncharacteristic thing she did may be putting a glamorous photo of herself on the cover of the new disc. In the past she's held off from showing herself on the sleeves, partly because she knows enough female songwriters who've had stalker problems. But this time she consented to a photo shoot that involved more than an hour for the hair braid alone. Tell her the result looks rather sexy and she responds, "Well, that's one way of interpreting it." Not the one she prefers, however. She was out to catch a sense of openness that would suit the title track. "The photo was meant tobe very direct; it was the photographer's idea to put my hand in my shirt, but I think it worked. I think it represents thesong well -- it's about facing the future and whatever it has to offer but not being fearful of it. It could be a love song, or it could be one of those mystical Sufi songs that refer to God as their love. Which is really what I was going for, with the lines about `taking small steps to your temple door.' " So there you have it: within the context of a romantic and air-playable song, she's snuck into the spiritual territory usually reserved for the likes of Richard Thompson. "I could be lying, though," she says with a laugh. "It's really about an Irish setter."

Billboard
July 29, 2000
Singer/songwriter Merrie Amsterburg says recording her latest album, "Little Steps" (Q Division/Zoe/Rounder Records) was "more fun" than recording her first set. "I recorded a lot of 'Little Steps' at home. A lot of the best songs came in one shot. The album is about being responsible for your actions." In August the folk-influenced Amsterburg will begin a US tour, including stops at Borders locations.

Amplifier
Issue No. 20

by Tom Semioli

To pigeonhole Merrie Amsterburg into a particular genre would be a great disservice to the artist and music fan alike. If this record were made in the 1970s, she'd probably be praised alongside such female singer songwriters as Joni Mitchell and Janis Ian. Had Little Steps been borne out of the heady days of the "women in rock" movement in the mid-1990s, Merrie would undoubtedly draw favorable comparisons to Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donnely and Kristin Hersh, among others. In the present tense, this Boston native's second full-length disc is a mesmerizing hidden treasure of sublime folk-pop songs of a highly introspective nature. From the dream sequences of "Heart of My Head" to the mellow funk of "Undertow" to the faux-psychedelia of "Different Today," Amsterburg is a suburb writer who weaves hypnotic melodies around captivating and intelligent lyrics. "Atmosphere," with its use of an Indian Ba Harmonium as a pedal tone and "Opal Moon," underpinned with subtle trumpet lines, are two of the more stellar tracks on this flawless album. Producer Mike Deneen (Letters To Cleo, Jennifer Trynin, Gigolo Aunts) does a brilliant job of creating textures that embellish the songs rather than overshadow them. Little Steps is a record that will sound just as good in the next five, ten, fifteen years, as it does today. Highly recommended for fans of Beth Orton, Aimee Mann, and Nick Drake.