Live at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport on Thursday June 12 with Pete Heitzman!

by Bob McKillop

Karen Savoca lives her life down in the dirt – she feels the moist, fertile soil of life between her toes, and digs her hands into the dark, rich earth.  She loves to make nourishing relationships grow by planting community everywhere she travels. She comes back from time to time to tend to the bounty that results.  Her songs and her music are her seeds, and her rich, supple, creative vocal style is her hoe.  Her musical and life partner, Pete Heitzman, is her fellow farmer.

Her most recent release, “In the Dirt” (2006, Alcove Records) is full of music that brings that aspect of her personality into sharp focus.  Hypnotic percussion and bass grooves lay a foundation for nicely orchestrated electric and acoustic guitar chord arrangements and sassy, uninhibited vocals.  The lyrical content is elemental and prescient.

“Just Let Go” reminds us not to carry around the baggage that we can pick up in our lives.  If something is painful or not working, and it’s over, just let go – move on.  A descending guitar riff, and a sluggish bass and percussion track, suggests a slow, contemplative walk down a country road in the heat of summer.  It’s time find a final disposition for difficult matters.

In “Give Me a Kiss”, a complex 6/8 time signature and a Latin groove drive this tune along and get the body moving.  Let’s learn to live in the moment and find pleasure in each other, and not get too wrapped up with the trouble in the world.

“What do the birds think, when they look down at us

Tugging and pulling and kicking up dust?

You smile and ask me was it always like this

Let’s not talk about it, just give me a kiss”

Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman have arrived at a point in their lives and in their careers where they don’t worry about a lot.  They know that the gig opportunities will arise; that the garden will sustain them; that the creativity will continue.  They take life as it comes, and greet it with open arms and lots of love and community.

“I don’t worry about dry spells”, Karen explains.  “I recently went a little while without writing a song; mainly I wasn’t worrying about it, but people were going, ‘you got anything new, when’s the new record?’, and it starts to sort of drive you nuts. But that’s the way things go for me, I’ll go a long time, maybe a few months without writing anything, and then all of a sudden I get a load of ideas at once.  I don’t worry about it, I figure, what’s the worse thing that can happen, you have to sing great songs that other people have written?  For now the songs are still coming but if they stop, I’ll still be singing!”

Karen’s voice is her primary instrument. She identifies herself first and foremost as a singer, but she has become known as an accomplished percussionist as well.

“I mostly think of myself of a singer who likes to bang and rattle things,” she laughs.  “Pete and I had a band for years, and when we started traveling as a duo, we really missed the rhythmic component of what we were used to with the band.  I said, ‘well, I’ve always been a frustrated drummer’, so I went out and got myself a conga.  Now I feel strange when I just stand up and sing and don’t have that drum in front of me. It’s really become part of what I do, it feels like a natural extension of me now.”

Karen has a powerful voice, but it’s power lies in its subtlety and nuance; her vocals are sensual in the way that the natural world is sensual – they are simple, textured, diverse in timbre, and ripe with wisdom derived from experience.

She enjoys touring and performing all over the continent.  While it’s hard to be away from home and family, Karen finds that working with other artists on stage, and finding magic in those moments, makes it all worthwhile.  She has many stories about those moments, and one of her favorites involves the live show at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield Quebec, where she and Pete joined Garnet Rogers and Greg Brown.  The show was recorded and a wonderful CD resulted (“Live at the Black Sheep, Alcove Records, 2002).   Karen and Pete had done lots of work with Greg Brown, but on those two nights, he chose to play old, obscure blues tunes that they didn’t know.  They had never played with Rogers prior to that first night.

“So it was very improvisational, and really really fun.”  Karen remembers.  “The room was at about 98 degrees, swampy and wonderful.  After the end of the two nights, we said it was a lot of fun, but we probably didn’t get anything we're gonna like on tape.   But there was too much, it was hard to decide what to use – it was a magical couple of nights!”

 

These moments of deep community, connections made through music, and being with old and new friends, are what Karen and Pete live for as touring musicians.  It’s all part of an approach that prioritizes joy in the moment, and digging down into the dirt of life.  The title track of Karen’s CD, “In the Dirt” conveys the philosophy perfectly.  A funky percussive groove takes us to our inner, elemental truths, and a scratchy, distorted guitar lead strips away all pretensions.  Karen sings about touching mother earth, living with her, and sustaining life through her gifts.

 

“I’m gonna dig down in the dirt

Feel in between my toes

I’m gonna find out what every farmer knows

Way down in the dirt

Dig down, dig down

Way, way down, in the ground”

“I want to get the music to work for me in different ways, and to help other people, to do benefits for people and organizations that I care about. I know those are pretty simple goals.” Karen admits.  “But there’s an amazing thing that happens when you’re singing for people; people say incredible things to me at the end of the night.  People come up to me after shows and they tell you that you helped them through something, a tough time, or that they were really depressed, and you really made them feel better, or you made something change or click for them.  It makes it really worth while and it makes you feel like your doing something right; at least you’re doing something valuable.”

Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman are traveling to Maine for a show in Bucksport, at the Alamo Theater, presented by Over the Bridge Productions, on Thursday, June 12.  I recommend that you go to this show and be a part of the community and the magic moments that will occur that evening.  Karen’s singing is just wonderful, and Pete is a killer guitarist. 

Karen’s CDs, including “In the Dirt’ are available at CD Baby and at her shows.