The Dreaming Fields

Matraca Berg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dualtone Music Group
• ASIN: B004S3ATZG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,052 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of Nashville's most graceful singer/songwriters." --USA Today

"it sounds like an extension of herself. Beautiful." --No Depression

" ...gorgeous and emotional journey that exemplifies her extraordinary talent." --Performing Songwriter

Product Description

Matraca Berg returns to the world of recorded music with the darkly mysterious roots package The Dreaming Fields. Fourteen years since the Songwriters Hall of Famer released her Sunday Morning To Saturday Night, an album cited as one of the Top 10 Albums in any genre by Time, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, & People, the introspective songwriter creates a collection of songs examining the tides and seasons of women's lives, aches and triumphs.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best living country songwriter May 17, 2011

By George T. Geran

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

People could honestly debate the above statement. There are many great country songwriters out there. But Matraca Berg brings a special honesty and humanity to her work that few even aspire to. Rosanne Cash has been mentioned and the comparison is apt -- the humanity, literate quality, and soulfulness of both artists' work are compelling. Ms. Berg is a star, a potential guidepost for all who care about songwriting, and Country music (by any name) that retains and honors its historic grounding. She may have only achieved fame by others having hits with her songs (and there have been many, many), but she is a heart-breakingly beautiful performer with a limited catalog of back albums, all worth owning. She is also thoroughly modern. And an excellent companion for the road. I missed her recording, I am glad she is doing it again. The best album I have heard so far this year. Take a chance. Buy it now.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Tasty new material from Matraca May 16, 2011

By William Merrill TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:MP3 Music

With Matraca Berg writing so many songs for other country artists, in recent years we haven't had as many opportunities to hear her sing her own songs. The Dreaming Fields is a nice return for her. I've seen it categorized a few places as "folk," but to my ears most of these songs still sound like country. It is country in the vein of Rosanne Cash's music or the like, singer-songwriter stuff. Listen to "Clouds" with its exquisite pedal steel work, and see if it sounds like country or folk to you. I'm going with country. One nod in the other direction, the wistful title tune, does have a traditional folk air to it.

The song lyrics to all eleven of these songs are available on the artist's web site, along with songwriting credits. I noticed that several of Matraca's peers have joined her in writing the new tunes, including Gretchen Peters, Deanna Carter and Suzy Bogguss. There's also a song co-written with actress Mary Steenburgen, "Fall Again."

Ms Berg is in good voice on The Dreaming Fields, and the backing musicians are all excellent. Among my favorite new songs are the sweet "Oh Cumberland," "Racing the Angels" (which sounds Emmylou Harris-ish, and is an instant classic), and a bluesy-funny number, "Your Husband's Cheating On Us." The whole album is good, though.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Far too long since the last album from Matraca May 16, 2011

By ThomWill

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

We have waited a long, long time for a new album and Matraca did not disappoint with The Dreaming Fields. A favorite among singer-songwriters. Meaningful lyrics in a voice that is not off the cookie-cutter assembly line from which so many more commercial artists seem to come.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A grower May 17, 2011

By Puzzled

Format:MP3 Music

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by this CD on first listen. I ordered ahead of time direct from Dualtone because I wanted an autographed copy :-)

I've had this on in my car more or less constantly for 3 days now, and any initial doubts have gone. There aren't songs that jump out at me the way there were on "Sunday Morning..." but each number here is thoughtful, intelligent, and honest. It's won me over big time. Her voice sounds like nobody else, and there's something 'intimate' in how these tracks are recorded that helps them burrow in if you'll give them a chance.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Berg's "Fields' Abound with Painful Dreams May 16, 2011

By Timothy Yap TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:MP3 Music

Prime Cuts: Clouds, Oh Cumberland, A Cold, Rainy Morning in London in June

Like a moth to a flame, over the years many artists just flock to record Matraca Berg's compositions. These singers do come from the whole spectrum of genres including Linda Ronstadt ("Walk On"), Reba McEntire ("The Last One to Know"), Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter ("Me and Tequila"), Sara Evans ("Fool, I'm a Woman"), Trisha Yearwood ("Lying to the Moon") and Gretchen Wilson ("I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today"). A listen to Berg's first record in 13 years "The Dreaming Fields" will reveal the reasons why Berg has been such a much demanded scribe. Her songs unfold like juicy gossips from a women's magazine where she chronicles for us the stories of love, deceit, anguish, pain and the fear of getting old. Most importantly, Berg does not just sing; she makes us feel the emotions that brim beneath the surfaces of each track. Berg has a way of helping us feel that these are more than just songs. Rather, they are life stories coming out of the pages of our lives--some of which are so nebulously painful yet so profoundly articulated that they soothe our pains. Such is the beauty of this disc. But Berg is more than just a stellar writer, when she steps up to the microphone she is equally mesmerizing. Her plaintive tenor in her vocals emphatically draws us effortlessly into each syllable leaving a bittersweet aftertaste that becomes so alluring.

The tracks that do excel are the ballads, especially the heartbreaking kind. Thankfully, they exist here in spades. Check out the lonesome folk ballad "If I Had Wings," a forlorn tale about an abused wife who finally had the courage to fight back.... Despite the song's acoustic framed arrangement it can hardly masked the violent lyrics as Berg sings, "Mama said call a preacher, I just called the law/We all knew sooner or later/It was gonna be me or him..." In similar lines is the sultry bluesy "Your Husband's Cheating on Us" that also tells of infidelity but this time told from the perspective of the other woman. Berg vocally struts with such attitude that she could easily rival Reba McEntire on how to be a feisty yet classy diva. Calling to mind her classic ballad "Lying to the Moon," the guitar and fiddled led "Clouds" has the same haunting and searing melancholy that just makes heartache feels so good. "South of Heaven" again is another emotional heavyweight as this time Berg is joined by her "Wine, Women and Song" road buddies Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss on this anti-war song. What sets "South of Heaven" apart from the copious songs about war is that it is told through the eyes of a terrified mother who cries: "God you gave your only son, you are not the only one..."

Berg has resurrected two of her self-penned songs first recorded by her clients before. The first is the current single "Oh Cumberland," a track that first appeared on Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 3." A song Berg wrote for a homesick friend who had just moved to LA, this is just therapeutic stuff for the hurting. The other cover is "You and Tequila" - the current single of Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter--here finds Berg drawing comparisons between the addiction of love and whiskey. Even darker moments come with "Silver and Glass" as Berg explores the inevitable fate of getting old. Of note also is the ruminative "A Cold, Rainy Morning in London in June" a wistful piano piece where the protagonist finds herself comparing to a lonely looking postcard. Despite the understated backings, the emotions here are stark, penetrating and they really go for the heart.

Perhaps a major quibble about this disc is that it's far too ballad driven. One certainly misses Berg in her more sassy moments a la on her debut RCA disc where she sings "I Got It Bad" and the "The Things You Left Undone." Also a few tracks become far too indulgent and wordy including the pretty average "Racing the Angels." Nevertheless, despite these challenges, "The Dreaming Fields" is still land worth visiting for its realistic presentation of love and its ensuing tragedies. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars captivating May 16, 2011

By chercat

Format:MP3 Music

After listening to the samples, I was captivated by the beautiful voice of Matraca Berg . There was not a song in the batch that was one you would want to skip and that is a rarity . She is a gifted singer/songwriter and I would classify the songs are country/folk - some more folk than country and some more country than folk , but all are very special .
I can already tell that this is a very special CD - one you will listen to for years to come so buy it now while it is being offered at such a huge discount on the price .