Friday, October 12, 2007
I recently had the utmost pleasure to attend another Drew Pearce house concert, this time to experience the music of two very gifted singer-songwriters, Amie Penwell (photo), and Kym Tuvin.

The concert took place in the living room of a smallish but well-appointed townhouse-style condo set in forested countryside a few miles beyond the picturesque town of Fairfax, Ca. Despite its remote location, though, the living room was packed with over forty music fans. Although there were several other musicians in this audience, no one signed up for the open mic session afterward, preferring to just sit and enjoy the show. Drew decided to let Amie and Kym alternate on their perfromances, in a sort of "round robin" for two. For the sake of simplicity, each artist is reviewed separately.

I first saw Amie perform a very short set of three songs at one of Krickie's Sexy Sunday songwriter showcases back in July. I was incredibly impressed by Amie's most unusual voice quality back then, and longed to listen to her again in a more sustained set. This voice is still very difficult to describe. On her myspace page, she lists a number of artists who she "sounds like," but I can't imagine her sounding like any of those, it is so much different from anything I had ever heard. The closest resemblance maybe might be to a very young Rod Stewart before he developed his signature sound, when he did the vocals in Jeff Beck's album Truth in the late 60's. The closest description that I can give for her voice is somewhere between "husky" and "smokey." Amie spent the entire time before her performance outside the house on the patio where it was dark and cold, citing a cat allergy (the cat was supposedly upstairs locked in a bedroom), and trying to save her voice for the show. I couldn't see what she was doing out there in the dark, but for all I know, she could have been out there smoking a pack of Marlboros to give her voice that "smokey" sound. Didn't seem the type, though. Amie is relatively new on the musician scene, and just recorded her long-anticipated debut full-length CD during the summer. There is no release date as yet, but she was selling a CD with only three songs on it for those who couldn't wait for more at the show. I have found from previous experience, that three songs isn't enough with this artist. Three songs leave me frustrated and wanting. I'm waiting for the album, hope I don't have to wait too long.

For her first two songs, "Mercy" (a version of which is up on her myspace player) and "Mary's Song," Amie was accompanied by violinist Margot Holzman, who also will appear on Amie's debut CD. Unfortunately, she had to leave right after the second song for a gig at a Mill Valley Film Festival gala later that same night.

Amie then went on to sing more original songs from her new album, "What Would Love Do," "The River," "Walking With You," and "Momentary Cure," before taking a short break. On at least one of those songs, Kym provided a lovely backing vocal harmony, as well as guitar. After the break, Amie sang and played a few more songs, including a Shawn Colvin cover nicely adapted to piano, then "Cast a Shadow," and "King's Temple." Many of these songs reflected Amie's previous experiences as a caregiver to patients with Alzheimer's and other debilitating conditions. On one of these songs, Kym had adapted the piano instrumental to guitar, giving Amie the opportunity to just sing without having to play. I have to say that I, and the rest of the audience really enjoyed all of Kym's collaborations with Amie, and was so impressed with how perfect they were together, considering how little time they had to practice together.

Amie's musical style is that of soulful lamentations paired with beautiful melodies. They all have a similar slowish pace, but Amie's vocal delivery of the lyrics give each song a different signature emotional tone ranging from devastating to sorrowful to wrenching to uplifting. It is so amazing to me how Amie can individualize such similarly structured songs with just her voice, and this is what sets her music apart from anything else I have ever heard. I can't wait for her CD to come out so that I can spread the word on this extraordinary singer-songwriter.

Kym Tuvim, having come from a musical family, has been in the business longer than Amie. Her first CD, 2003's On The Mend, received rave reviews and established her reputation as one of the best folk artists in the nation. She has just released her second CD, Nothing Sweet Nothing. Originally from San Jose, Ca., she has lived for the past twenty years in the Seattle/Tacoma area of the Great Northwest. Her voice and stylings are very different from Amie's, which made for an interesting and entertaining contrast as the two musicians took their alternate turns. Kym sings mostly in a deep alto very reminiscent of local folk hero Tracy Chapman, and uses her background in jazz to create a unique array of Southern blues-influenced country folk tunes with jazz inflections. Her vocal range is such that she can hit the high notes perfectly at will, insinuating some gut-wrenching feelings into her ballads, some of which brought tears to my eyes.

Kym played at least a good ten songs, most of which were from Nothing Sweet Nothing; "Pendulum," "Skin, Muscle, Bone," "Mystery," "Birdsong," "The More I See You," "Flood," "Blue," and "Far Away;" "Trouble," a rock/blues fusion from On The Mend, and a "torch" song not written by Kym called "That's All." While "Skin, Muscle, Bone" and "Flood" brought out the blues at its best, "Birdsong" brought the jazz influence, "Far Away" and "The More I See You" were real tear-jerkers that left us all in the audience limp with emotion. Kym has that power, to take her audience on a roller-coaster ride of emotions with her, so that by the end of the evening pretty much everyone there had fallen in love with her.

The capacity crowd at this show were enthusiastic and appreciative, prompting Amie and Kym to perform for almost three hours, bouyed by audience love. They only stopped when Amie literally had gone through her entire repetoire of songs and had nothing left that she could sing, but it was much more than anyone here expected. They both gave so much of themselves to their fans and to each other, and their collaborations together were beautiful. They are both well worth supporting by going to see them perform live, and by buying their music.

And speaking of music, I want to give Kym many, many kudos for packaging Nothing Sweet Nothing in a recyclable, degradable paper jacket instead of an environmentally damaging plastic CD case. That is brilliant, Kym, you are doing your part to save our planet. I hope that others follow your example and stop encasing their CDs in plastic!
Review by Nusi (www.myspace.com/nusisf)