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Called a “master of introspective ballads” (Performing Songwriter), award-winning acoustic songwriter Meg Hutchinson brings a poet’s sensibility to everyday scenes, painting a vivid picture of the way America lives today, giving us her most political and personal album to date – THE LIVING SIDE.
Meg Hutchinson takes us on a musical journey deep within her life, where we see our own lives reflected back at us. As master songwriter John Gorka says, “After you hear Meg, you feel you’ve been somewhere.” Turning her poet's eye toward these uncertain times with that same honest, closely observed perspective from which she charts her most intimate songs, she asks the questions that plague all of us. “I think of this album as a conversation,” Hutchinson says. “These songs are full of questions, and I've tried to leave space for the listeners to answer.”
Hutchinson's songs begin with vivid, naturalistic images, of apple orchards and trailer parks, stark factory towns and the Statue of Liberty. But she is guiding us to more intimate places, exploring how we feel in this time of fast and frightening change. The album begins with “Hard to Change,” a song about our struggle to unplug from our high-tech gadgets and more fully connect with each other.
“I grew up in the country without a TV or internet," Hutchinson says. “There were so many quiet hours in the day. So many spaces between events. We have forgotten how to be alone in our thoughts. All the best work comes out of that rich stillness of waiting."
Whether singing about technology, billion dollar bailouts or global warming, Meg Hutchinson makes these big issues personal by showing how they affect our everyday lives. She goes beyond the casual observation of current events and explores the emotion behind the experiences, bringing thc characters’ inner lives out into the open, as is evident in the tracks “Being Happy” and “Gatekeeper.”
These songs were brought to life with the help of veteran producer Crit Harmon (Lori McKenna, Mary Gauthier, Martin Sexton), who worked with Hutchinson on her last critically acclaimed album COME UP FULL. “When Meg brought me these songs, I heard something new in every listen,” says Harmon. “I wanted the recordings to have that same element of discovery. It was a challenge to create a soundscape as thoughtfully woven together as Meg's songs. Meg's singing is captivating.” Keeping Hutchinson’s vocals at the center of the recording, Harmon brought in some of New England’s best and busiest session players including Kevin Barry (guitars), Richard Gates (bass), and Brad Hatfield (keyboards, string arrangements). With moody wurlitzer and lush strings, THE LIVING SIDE is cinematic and hopeful – a hypnotic musical ourney that takes on new emotional meaning with every listen and encourages us to choose the living side. |
Meg Hutchinson Info (.pdf)
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(credit Asia Kepka)
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2010 The Living Side
2009 Winterbloom
2008 Come Up Full
2007 True North [single]
2004 The Crossing
2001 Any Given Day
1999 Against The Grey
1996 Meg Hutchinson
If you would like to offer a sample of Meg's music on your site, please ONLY use this excerpt of "Hard To Change" as a stream (not download). THANK YOU!
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