The Roots Run Deep

Anke Summerhill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Independent Songwriters Group
• ASIN: B00000INXI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #959,865 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Summerhill digs deep for "Roots" and comes up with gold, June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Roots Run Deep (Audio CD)

Summerhill digs deep for "Roots" and comes up with gold

"The Roots Run Deep," Anke Summerhill, ISG, 1998.

by Franklin Seal

Times-Independent, Moab, Utah

If your heart sings with the bittersweet spirit of autumn, if the romantic in you yearns for perfect summer picnics in forest meadows, if your mind delights in soaring above a moonlit desert sky, this first CD by Utah folk sweetheart Anke Summerhill is definitely for you.

Backed up by some of America's most respected folk artists (like guitarist David Grier) and produced by Kate MacLeod of Waterbug Records, "Roots" shows off Anke's crystalline voice like a diamond surrounded by gold.

Comparisons to the first Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell albums quickly spring to mind, yet "Roots" is clearly a deeply original work, a unique blend of melancholy and optimism sung with heart-melting honesty.

A romantic to the core, Anke has created a complex tapestry with "Roots." Juxtaposed like strands in a mysterious weave, her songs explore contrasting themes. In "From Up Here" she's outward bound on a plane with one eye excitedly scanning the horizon ahead, the other pulled by tender heartstrings to catch the last glimpse of the small town she's just left behind. That tension, that sense of beautifully mixed emotions, pervades almost every cut on this album.

Like the photo of Anke on the back of the liner, "Roots" is up to its ankles in the rustling leaves and bittersweet sadness of autumn. In "Stillness of the Night" she hears the voices of departed friends whispering in the leaves and knows they'll never "get those second chances/Like the leaves that will return again in spring." But Anke sees autumn from both sides. In "Long Way From My Window" the grass has turned to gold, yet, "Summer moons are sweeter/Because the winters are so cold."

"Harvest Moon," is an ode to the temporary, passing quality of time. Fond memories of childhood, and of someone long gone, remind her to cherish her memories. Matt Flinner finds just the right touch on the mandolin to spice up Anke's sensitive and inspired vocals.

"Rainbow Blues" is an original blues classic; perhaps Anke's greatest vocal performance on the album. And with Kate MacLeod's fiddle wailing with such tender intensity, it takes on added depth.

But all here is not sadness and regret. In the middle of the eleven song CD, Anke's spirit soars with three uniquely different yet nicely upbeat numbers: "Raven," "Walnut Tree," and "Stars At Noon." With Raven she desires to be lost in the endless blue, and her singing literally transports us there. In "Walnut Tree," (the track which gives us the title) she revels in the joys of hearth and home while awaiting her lover's imminent return from the war. She, and a tree planted when he left, both now have roots that run deep. This is songwriting at its best.

My personal favorite, "Only A Paycheque," is the most serious song on the album. A very personal look at homelessness, it's the least folky of all eleven songs. With an infectious beat, accentuated by George Grant's lively bohdran and tabla grooves, this is a tight number. It has the feel of a folk-rock tune but doesn't quite abandon its traditional folk roots. If this is a hint of things to come, we'll all be dancing in the aisles when Anke comes out with release number two. Hopefully we won't have to wait very long.