It’s always exciting to find a fresh new voice, and that’s exactly what Maya Lerman is: fresh, new and utterly charming. The young singer and songwriter from Virginia sings in a style that is at once old-time and refreshing as the proverbial dew on the vine, and writes songs that fit comfortably at a contemporary folk festival or in a smoky honky-tonk. She recorded her debut album Take This Song With You as Maya and the Ruins, with members of Louisiana’s Red Stick Ramblers and a few other co-conspirators. It’s one of my favorite discs of 2013.
Just looking at the track list, I was immediately intrigued. She’s covering songs by Jimmie Rodgers, Elizabeth Cotten, the Mississippi Shieks, Memphis Minnie, Hank Snow and … huh? … Tom Petty? Yes, Florida’s own Tom Petty. And she’s written several of her own to fill out the program.
Now, if Maya Lerman wanted to grab my heart, all she had to do was start her record with Jimmie Rodgers’ “Train Whistle Blues.” And she does it up fine, her unadorned vocals at once unassuming and confident, she perfectly captures the yodeling-past-the-graveyard insoucience of Rodgers’ song about riding out hard economic times. Her vocals ride comfortably along on a simple arrangement of her acoustic guitar, David Egan’s barroom piano trills, Daniel Coolik’s mandolin and Rambler Eric Frey’s bowed bass.
Bluegrass singer Cary Fridley sings a beautiful duet with Maya (and plays bass as well) on that Hank Snow song “Roll Along, Kentucky Moon,” and then Maya comes out of left field with a solo performance, accompanied only by herself on electric guitar, on Elizabeth Cotton’s “I’m Going Away.” It’s unlike anything you’re expecting at this point, and absolutely perfect – Maya’s resigned-sounding vocals and the heavily reverbed guitar create a rather ghostly effect.
So now you don’t know what to expect, so welcome the honky-tonk shuffle of Ola Belle Reed’s “Let Me In” with Rambler Kevin Wimmer on fiddle, Coolik on a Telecaster and another Rambler, Glenn Fields, on drums. What next? How about an old-timey arrangement of Petty’s “Wildflowers,” the first two verses with the sweetly stark accompaniment of banjo and mandolin, before the fiddle, etc., join in. She finishes the first half of the program with one of her own songs that fooled me at first into thinking it had probably first been recorded by the late great George Jones. “Like Askin’ ” is a sad country duet with Frey, backed by a couple of fiddles, Egan’s piano, plus what sounds like a B3 organ for drama and electric guitar for twang. The payoff is in the chorus, when the two of them harmonize on these doleful words: “Other smiles, other kisses may take me / it’s a sad thing however it goes / like somebody asking someone to marry / and someone telling somebody no.”
The second half is nearly as strong as the first, with three sturdy songs by Maya nestled in with Memphis Minnie’s “She Wouldn’t Give Me None” (a shambling affair with Rambler Chas Justus on lead vocal and a very cool resonator guitar) the Mississippi Sheiks’ “Bootlegger’s Blues,” the bluegrass gospel “I Saw A Man At The Close Of Day,” and the Western swing “I Wish That You Could Learn To Love Me.” Her own “Write Me A Letter” is a sweet, sad country weeper with harmony from Frey over a mostly acoustic arrangement plus atmosphere from steel guitar. The title song finishes the album on a strong note, with Kristin Andreassen (of Uncle Earl) on harmony vocals, and keyboards including Farfisa organ from Chris Stafford, creating a lovely vehicle for Maya’s sweet and slightly sad voice.
Maya’s day job involves working with old musical treasures at a branch of the Library of Congress in Virginia, and word is she sourced some of her songs from there. Wherever it comes from, she obviously has a natural affinity for these songs, her backing musicians have helped to create just the right settings, and she delivers each one in just the right way. Take This Song With You is an exceptionally strong debut from a welcome new voice in Americana.
(self-released, 2013)
