Jane Eamon finally admits to being from A Different Place. She sure didn't pick up her music from any destination you can reach on a plane. Just one track off her latest album is proof enough of that.

Eamon has an enchanting voice -- emotive, powerful, melodic, with a savory depth lingering at the edge of every word.

And Eamon has the blues. Real blues, slow and dark and powerful, working the variations of the art without getting repetitive. She paints the world in cool tones for an uplifting tale of the woman-loving "Lady of the Blues" and speaks through the dirty glass of a washed-up bottle to share the alienation of the "Robinson Caruso Blues." And Eamon rocks, blasting along protest tunes and listed others with a hip-shaking rhythm. She builds "Ruckus in the Henhouse" so it can shape itself for protest through the years instead of being tied down with one concern. Eamon's got a tap on the softer side, too, striking at the tenderest underside of memory with "I Remember When" with a light touch and sharp eye. "I Remember When" hits the heart like autumn sunlight, recalling lost time and lost friends with a sweet, painful touch. "Aunt Kitty" has the power of a sepia photograph and brings home the weight of a life.

Eamon knows her way around her instruments, too. Harmonica or guitar, she matches their voices to her own, blending them for a sound deeply human and more than mortal. She proves that a harmonica can scream and a guitar can sob, without ever drawing attention to the performance. Every song is so balanced that no one aspect becomes a star, every note an essential part of a moving, vital landscape.

If Jane Eamon is in A Different Place, she's sending back a map and invitation. It's always worthwhile to join her.

by Sarah Meador
Rambles.NET
8 October 2005

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