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5 June, 2000
|
Cutting Releases Forgiveness, Recorded with Maddy Prior and Folk-Rock All-Stars at U.K. Sessions
North America’s “Maestro of Electric Folk” Jennifer
Cutting, who
masterminded the U.S.’s critically acclaimed electric folk band The New St.
George, breaks through to the international level under her own banner with
her new single Forgiveness. Cutting assembled an all-star cast
of
legendary folk-rockers from both sides of the Atlantic for the recording
sessions on the momentous day of August 11, 1999, when all of Britain waited
breathlessly for the total eclipse of the sun. Of the three songs recorded
at renowned Chipping Norton Studios, Cutting has chosen Forgiveness
as her
first release of the new millennium, as both a hope for the new, and a
celestial benediction for the old.
Singing the majestic lead vocals on Forgiveness is
England’s First Lady
of Song, Maddy Prior, whose soaring voice helped to bring British folk-rock
band Steeleye Span a string of hit records. Cutting’s relationship with
Prior dates back to the days when, as New St. George’s bandleader, she and
Prior shared the same festival stages.
Multi-Grammy-winning guitarist/producer John Jennings (of Mary
Chapin
Carpenter band fame) paid Cutting the ultimate compliment by flying to
England from his home near Washington, D.C., just to play the sessions.
His
relationship with Cutting dates back to his involvement as producer on the
New St. George’s CD High Tea (Folk Era).
Jennings brought into the fold legendary Fairport Convention
drummer (and
Mary Chapin Carpenter bandmate) Dave Mattacks. One of England’s greatest
drummers (and the one who well-nigh invented British folk-rock), Dave
Mattacks can be heard on Richard Thompson’s recent album Mock Tudor, and
on the latest albums by Paul McCartney and XTC.
In an important rite of passage for Cutting, the musicians who
were her
greatest idols now accepted her as a peer. Dave Mattacks asked Cutting’s
road crew, “Is all her material this good?” John Jennings was
visibly moved
during playback, calling Forgiveness “big and gorgeous.” Upon receipt
of the
final mix, an excited Maddy Prior pronounced it “Stunning!”
Industry songwriting greats Hal Ketchum, Tom Paxton, and Steve
Seskin felt
the same when, as judges, they awarded the song First Prize at the
prestigious Merle Watson Memorial Song Contest. Cutting says, “I
think that Forgiveness is the best song I‘m capable of writing - and the task of
forgiving is the hardest, but the most important, work we could ever do.
We
all struggle with it, in our relationships with ex-es, family members, and
former colleagues; and on a larger level, the same struggle goes on between
races and religions.”
“It was such an important song to me that I wanted a truly
heavenly lineup
of musicians to bring it to life,” says Cutting, who wrote, arranged, and
produced the power-rock ballad, as well as playing piano and Hammond B-3
organ. “When I wrote the song, I was struggling to make sense
of an
overwhelming hurt, and I wanted to write a song that sounded the way forgiveness would feel, if I could reach that place. And the
greatest
thing happened - when I finished writing and recording it, hearing the song
really did give me that feeling of sweetness, of release - that our hearts are
larger than we think they are. I’m hoping it will help others feel uplifted,
too.”
