Customer Reviews

Where the Mangoes Are

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Last night, I discovered a tremendous talent in the music, body and soul of Kate McDonell. I was lucky enough to see her at a terrific local house concert and she is GOOD. I strongly urge you go see her and get your local radio stations to play her! I have seen quite a LOT of singer/songwriters over the years and lots of them are engaging, playing perfectly decent and lovely music. Every once in a while, someone is on a different plane from the rest and Kate is one of them. This CD is terrific but seeing her live enhances the experience. She is very funny, has a superb stage presence. Her lyrics are compelling and poetic, she plays a mean guitar (and you've got to see her play, she plays chords backward and upside down, lefty-style!!), and has a range of styles and moods, all conveyed with equal excellence and originality. She agilely navigates the genres of folk, bluegrass, blues, goofy, poignant--the works! Find her information at www.katemcdonnell.com and you will not regret it!

"Mercy" exists in this world. "A poetic and beautiful political song," the singer songwriter Arlon Bennett said - an understatement. Folk in the style of Judy Collins, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel - but with a political edge - the soft blazing edge of an inferno.

I'm not sure when the American zeitgeist went from Patrick Henry 'Give me liberty or death' to Senators Cornyn and Roberts 'What good are civil rights when you're dead?' Maybe it started in 1988 with Atwater's Willie Horton ads. McDonnell feels this fear and her song starts

"When evening comes I hurry home, close and lock the door."

But she overcomes this fear and takes responsibility

"When New York needed all of us I sent a little cash"

It brings tears to my hardened New Yorker's eyes. And then she confronts the official response to terror:

"Our boy king who likes to play at war
he drops his toys upon the floor
before he goes to bed
the paper says mistakes are made and villagers are dead."

And also the "religious" justification:

"Jesus caught the souls of men and he loved them, every one
He said to love our neighbor and mercy would be done."

One of my friends asks himself `What would Jesus do.' I believe he'd like this song.

"Mercy" Copyright (C) 2006 Kate McConnell.

Some songs shine like a bright full moon on a clear winter night. "Mercy" blazes like the summer sun at noon.

I have 2 of Kate's previous 3 releases, ["Broken Bones" (94) & "Don't Get Me Started" (01)], both of which have wonderful tracks and brim with Kate's great voice and musicianship. However, they didn't prepare me for just how incredible her new Appleseed release is!

While she will always at heart be a folkie, this disc sets loose Marc Shulman's lashing electric guitar to drive Kate's compositions. The opener "Tumbleweed" is a loping midtempo road song with Mindy Jostyn's great harmony vocals. No, "Hey Joe" is not the song done by the Leaves back in the 60s, but it is a sweet folk melody with a vocal that would make proud Kate's inspiration, Joan Baez. "Go Down Moses" hearkens back to Kate's folk roots with a dynamic vocal, "I thought of it, I thought of it a 1,000 times!"

I thought it was unusual that in the liner notes Kate thanks George W. Bush for inspiration. Even my friends who like George -- and there are a lot of them down here in North Carolina -- rarely point to him as a source of inspiration. For those of us who have been listening to Dan Bern, the Mammals and Stephan Smith for political inspiration, now McDonnell's "Mercy" is a strong protest, "So who is my neighbor that I'm supposed to love? My neighborhood gets smaller as Bush comes to shove; I'll start by crossing off the map some people overseas 'til they and you and you and you are all my enemies." Unfortunately for me, this is the only political blast; so my Republican friends can hit the skip button while I mash repeat.

"Fires" is another delightful track that could have felt at home on Joni Mitchell's "For the Roses," "Love makes us walk through flames; love helps us put them out & God I hope you'll be there waiting." The traditional "Railroad Bill" sets your toe to tapping. Musically, Kate gets the most adventurous on "Lemon Marmalade" with languid guitar & electric sitar creating all flavors of musical emotion mirroring mysteries of love, "A woman who has kissed someone, a woman who's been kissed walks through the world more beautiful than sunshine through the mist, Every step & every look, a sweet warm undertow, she'll show you where the mangoes are & tell you all she knows." Kate does an excellent version of Steve Earle's "Goodbye Song" with her voice aching with the regrets of a love in trouble. The set concludes with the excellent composition "Softhearted Girl" that starts slow and builds majestically, "All too soon you'd had your fill of what was you & me; And now I'm left to pay the bill with worn-out currency." "Mangoes" is a quantum leap forward for Kate McDonnell. Her skills as a singer, songwriter and as a musician are firing in full force. This is a stunning set, not to be missed. Bravo!