Not Far Now
by Richard Shindell
Greg Ebdon
mchardy65
Brian Nusser
Charles Ullmann
Peter Cox
Don St. John
unabashedbellydancer
tmw
Drew
Joa555a
Chris McLaren
Thorsten L
Drew Tynan Robbins
Michael Gibbons
Phil Ward
thomasoak
mosshorne
lavendersara
billrathbone
andydux
giantmoose
easwerrie
aaron2649
bwanadave
helmland
oldenguy
gregarr
Rob van Swol
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Not Far Now via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 4 daysPurchasable with gift card
$13 USD
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
$9 USD
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 5 Richard Shindell releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Thirteen Songs You May Or May Not Have Heard Before, Not Far Now, South Of Delia, Courier, and Somewhere Near Paterson.
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1. |
Parasol Ants
03:46
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2. |
A Juggler Out In Traffic
04:35
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3. |
Gethsemani Goodbye
04:14
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4. |
¿ Qué Hago Ahora ?
02:25
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5. |
Bye Bye
04:02
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6. |
Mariana's Table
04:36
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7. |
State Of The Union
05:17
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8. |
One Man's Arkansas
04:26
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9. |
Get Up Clara
03:05
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10. |
The Mountain
03:55
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11. |
Balloon Man
04:11
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about
Widely acclaimed as one of today's finest narrative songwriters, Shindell has a rare gift for using detail to illuminate his characters' motivations and actions without ever getting mired in minutiae. Not Far Now's nine new compositions (complimented by a pair of outside songs) are haunting vignettes that exist vividly beyond the song that documents them. Shindell gives the listener a window into these lives, but their story continues long after the window is shut. "Time deposits me, the character I'm writing about, and a listener there at the first line," he observes. "Then, at the end of the song, at the end of the last line, life and time go on. The song happens in between those two moments."
The songs on Not Far Now are among Shindell's most cinematic and provocative, constructing scenarios in a voice that is notably free from moralizing, judgment, or conclusion. Opener Parasol Ants is a notable example, presenting a snapshot of a fallen small-time criminal, knocked to the ground within inches of a row of ants carrying chunks of green leaves over their heads. The thug is at once powerless in his own world and all-powerful in the ants.
State of the Union, a tale of an addict's journey into and out of sobriety with George W. Bush's annual congressional address as the backdrop, has been part of Shindell's live sets for several years now. Boldly unsentimental, it is an unglamorous glimpse into the day-to-day struggle that divides renewal and relapse, rendered by Shindell with unflinching clarity and honesty. Elsewhere, he crafts evocative tales of crooked developers ("One Man's Arkansas"), assumes the role a lovelorn street performer anxious to overcome physical and social barriers ("Juggler Out In Traffic"), and offers a stark, knowing reading of the late and much-missed Dave Carter's postmodern spiritual "The Mountain."
Nine years ago, New Jersey native and longtime New York resident Richard Shindell left home, relocating his family to Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Argentina feels like home now. Despite its many dysfunctions, the place and its people really get under your skin," he explains. "Some of the subject matter of the songs on Not Far Now is rooted in my experience of the local context. For example, 'Mariana's Table' is about a woman who sells empanadas to the truckers in a town called Brandsen, in the Province of Buenos Aires. 'Balloon Man' deals with a guy in our neighborhood here in Buenos Aires."
Before he moved, Shindell firmly established himself as a leading light on the American folk circuit, via a compelling series of albums of original songs (beginning with 1992's Sparrow Point), the live Courier (2002), and 2007's Vuelta. The Wall Street Journal proclaimed him "a master of subtle narrative," while Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times that, in Shindell's songs, "The tone is reflective, but the dilemmas and disappointments couldn't be more vivid." Shindell toured tireless behind each of his albums, building a dedicated following among both listeners and his fellow artists, leading to an offer to tour with Joan Baez and the formation of Cry Cry Cry, the all-star trio of Shindell, Dar Williams, and Lucy Kaplansky, who released an eponymous album in 1998 and toured regularly through 2000. Kaplansky contributes vocals to Not Far Now, and other guests on the project include bassist Viktor Krauss, venerable session drummer Steve Holley (Dar Williams, Joe Cocker, Elton John, Wings), keyboardist David Sancious, and vocalist and violinist Sara Milonovich, among others. Shindell plays an array of stringed instruments, including acoustic, electric, and twelve-string guitars, electric bass, percussion, piano, and bouzouki, which is featured prominently on many of Not Far Now's tracks. "I've been playing a lot of bouzouki," he says. "As the Irish discovered as well, it's a great instrument for accompanying the human voice. It also produces a very persistent, driving kind of sound, which I find generates a certain energy in an arrangement." The instrument is most strikingly used as an accompaniment on a powerful version of Cuban revolutionary songwriter Silvio Rodriguez's "Que Hago Ahora."
Of all the themes and characters investigated on Not Far Now, a surprising favorite emerges: "Get Up Clara," a soliloquy delivered by a weary traveler to his mule as he wanders rootlessly through the backroads, set in the later days of the Roman Empire. The song's appeal is obvious, Shindell insists. "Of the eleven songs on this record," Shindell reflects, "there are three that have shown up pretty regularly in my live sets during the past year or two. People seem to like 'Clara' the most, as do I. This is perhaps explained by the fact that Clara is a mule, and people generally like songs about mules."
The songs on Not Far Now are among Shindell's most cinematic and provocative, constructing scenarios in a voice that is notably free from moralizing, judgment, or conclusion. Opener Parasol Ants is a notable example, presenting a snapshot of a fallen small-time criminal, knocked to the ground within inches of a row of ants carrying chunks of green leaves over their heads. The thug is at once powerless in his own world and all-powerful in the ants.
State of the Union, a tale of an addict's journey into and out of sobriety with George W. Bush's annual congressional address as the backdrop, has been part of Shindell's live sets for several years now. Boldly unsentimental, it is an unglamorous glimpse into the day-to-day struggle that divides renewal and relapse, rendered by Shindell with unflinching clarity and honesty. Elsewhere, he crafts evocative tales of crooked developers ("One Man's Arkansas"), assumes the role a lovelorn street performer anxious to overcome physical and social barriers ("Juggler Out In Traffic"), and offers a stark, knowing reading of the late and much-missed Dave Carter's postmodern spiritual "The Mountain."
Nine years ago, New Jersey native and longtime New York resident Richard Shindell left home, relocating his family to Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Argentina feels like home now. Despite its many dysfunctions, the place and its people really get under your skin," he explains. "Some of the subject matter of the songs on Not Far Now is rooted in my experience of the local context. For example, 'Mariana's Table' is about a woman who sells empanadas to the truckers in a town called Brandsen, in the Province of Buenos Aires. 'Balloon Man' deals with a guy in our neighborhood here in Buenos Aires."
Before he moved, Shindell firmly established himself as a leading light on the American folk circuit, via a compelling series of albums of original songs (beginning with 1992's Sparrow Point), the live Courier (2002), and 2007's Vuelta. The Wall Street Journal proclaimed him "a master of subtle narrative," while Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times that, in Shindell's songs, "The tone is reflective, but the dilemmas and disappointments couldn't be more vivid." Shindell toured tireless behind each of his albums, building a dedicated following among both listeners and his fellow artists, leading to an offer to tour with Joan Baez and the formation of Cry Cry Cry, the all-star trio of Shindell, Dar Williams, and Lucy Kaplansky, who released an eponymous album in 1998 and toured regularly through 2000. Kaplansky contributes vocals to Not Far Now, and other guests on the project include bassist Viktor Krauss, venerable session drummer Steve Holley (Dar Williams, Joe Cocker, Elton John, Wings), keyboardist David Sancious, and vocalist and violinist Sara Milonovich, among others. Shindell plays an array of stringed instruments, including acoustic, electric, and twelve-string guitars, electric bass, percussion, piano, and bouzouki, which is featured prominently on many of Not Far Now's tracks. "I've been playing a lot of bouzouki," he says. "As the Irish discovered as well, it's a great instrument for accompanying the human voice. It also produces a very persistent, driving kind of sound, which I find generates a certain energy in an arrangement." The instrument is most strikingly used as an accompaniment on a powerful version of Cuban revolutionary songwriter Silvio Rodriguez's "Que Hago Ahora."
Of all the themes and characters investigated on Not Far Now, a surprising favorite emerges: "Get Up Clara," a soliloquy delivered by a weary traveler to his mule as he wanders rootlessly through the backroads, set in the later days of the Roman Empire. The song's appeal is obvious, Shindell insists. "Of the eleven songs on this record," Shindell reflects, "there are three that have shown up pretty regularly in my live sets during the past year or two. People seem to like 'Clara' the most, as do I. This is perhaps explained by the fact that Clara is a mule, and people generally like songs about mules."
credits
released April 7, 2009
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about
Richard Shindell Buenos Aires, Argentina
discography
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Dec 2011 -
Apr 2009 -
Jan 2007 -
May 2002 -
Feb 2000
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