Tequila Sunrise Rec. 
Meg Baird : Waltze of the tennis players /
Dear Companion (a capella version) -7"- (US,2006)****
I saw Espers playing lately, in Antwerp. When the band arrived, the members were suffering a bit from jet lag, and they were also going to play with another percussionist. I noticed strange tensions; Greg Weeks said a lot of nonsense in between the songs, and showed by it some slight disaffection with the heart energy of it all. Unfortunately, like what happens too often in Belgium, the technical mix also wasn’t too good (the cello was too quiet, and the second guitar was louder than the first guitar), which was also perhaps a reason why also the group performance sounded more lazy than I had expected it was going to be, even when they were still good enough, but I expected a performance that would show why they were the top or the cream of new acoustic folk, something which did not really happen. Greg’s contributions on keyboards or guitar did not always seemed absolutely necessary to the songs for me, as if he was distracted to his own visions to some degree more than to the sounds of a full group’s creativity. But on his own song choice, “blood is trouble” I noticed his own brilliance well, there he was affected. For me, in that evening, it was especially Meg Baird who showed me her brilliance. Not only her voice was wonderful, and her interpretations, she also plays the guitar well. I’m sure without her, the group would fall to pieces, even if she was just playing as one member amongst the others, contributing. We spoke a short while, because I thought after the concert, how much I would love her to hear her play more solo, with some traditionals even, as something of a project like the Leaves From Off The Tree perhaps, realizing one second too late how she was involved in that, but not as the leading character. Meg is honest, heart-earnest, and is serious in what she does, and in being so, brings dignity to the creative wholeness, she shows some charming shyness. When trying to avoid the centre, bringing a solo expression to the full force of possibilities needs good conditions, and mostly willing persons to let it develop and speak for itself. Only a few moments were given to her. There is a solo release in the make. On this single are the first two songs that could give us some idea what to expect.
It is not obvious at all that the first song on the first solo release is an a capella traditional ! She sings the song (after Sheila Kay Adams) as if she experienced it herself (and who knows, at least partly she did), expressed with some sad grief, left alone, as an older woman looking back on a situation that makes someone cry, but that is visualized and enriched with a feeling of true love. “Waltze of the tennis players”, after Allan Fraser and Daisy Debolt, with second voice and accompanied by guitar, sounds melodically slightly directed towards alt-country, in a way like Rebecca Hall perhaps. Another nice song. I look forward to the full release in 2007 !!
Limited to 1000 copies.
