Whatever happened to the greatest guy you never heard of?

Steve Ward returns with a new band after a ten-year hiatus – A review in three parts

To save time and effort for anyone who recognizes the names "Cherry Twister" or "Steve Ward":
Run - don't walk, RUN - out and buy the new album by a band called Fauna Flora.

For the rest of humanity:

Thirteen months ago, a new band out of southeastern Pennsylvania, Fauna Flora, released its debut album with little fanfare. Even pop-music lovers who might recognize the names from paragraph one were most likely unaware that the best-kept secret in singer-songwriters since Sixto Rodriguez had released his first new music in over ten years. Released in April 2014, Fauna Flora features 11 new songs written and produced by Ward and featuring a group of supporting players whose names will be familiar to those happy few in possession of his solo albums and earlier work as Cherry Twister. With Paul Murr (drums & percussion) and Matt Thomas (keyboards), who appeared on the solo albums in 2000 & 2003, as well as Joe Pisapia (bass & pedal steel guitars, backing vocals - his work with Steve goes back to the first Cherry Twister record in 1993), Fauna Flora doesn't sound or feel like a debut album - but the work of a maturing artist supported by a rock-solid team.

Fauna Flora is infectious pop music with memorable melodies and delicious harmonies tinged with just enough sweet melancholy to give the whole package some emotional heft.  Ward’s guitar work remains top notch, never flashy but always serving the song, and his voice, though retaining a beautifully delicate quality, has grown stronger and more assured over time.  After repeated listening, the vocals reminded me more and more of one of pop music’s finest tenors – Art Garfunkel.  Run – don’t walk, RUN – out and buy Fauna Flora’s debut album.

For that portion of humanity that would like to read more about Fauna Flora before buying the album:

Although the temptation is strong to speculate on the life behind the work when a musician disappears from the scene for such an extended period, Fauna Flora seems a very natural progression from Ward's most recent solo work, See and Be Seen, in 2003. Perhaps the phrase "disappears from the scene" isn't appropriate for a musician that has not yet penetrated the popular consciousness - but this is music deserving of greater attention. The guy who had to deal with a duplicitous paramour in "Kid Yourself", the devastating closer from that fine album, has seemingly taken up residence with the object of his affections - but the course of true love remains uneven. "The Mansard Roof and the Maple Tree" opens the new album with a lovely acoustic guitar figure and Ward's high tenor setting the scene and foretelling the future all at once: "I made my home west of Lancaster / on the road that took me far from her."   “The Belle of Blue Road” seems to again reference this lost lover (“Everything that’s beautiful, she understands” harkens back to the line from “Kid Yourself” – “She only wants her beautiful”).

Ward’s songwriting has a quality indispensable to pop music – he seems unable to write a song without something interesting going on, either musically or lyrically – and usually both.  “Happy Hour” is a mournful look at Miller Time, with Our Hero seemingly back in circulation on the dating scene – with both mixed emotions and results.  “I contend that tonight could end in a terrible mess”, sings Ward during the song’s bridge and the concluding “We’re so happy now” is delivered like a man who knows how to find the blue lining in every silver cloud.

In the digital age, albums don’t have two sides anymore – but I imagine Fauna Flora’s first 6 tracks as the Partly Cloudy side and the final 5 as the Partly Sunny side.  “The Arms of Winter” describes the ups and downs of a romance which seems to be growing colder along with the temperatures.  Chris Carmichael’s string arrangements here and throughout the record add a lushness and oftentimes drama into the mix.  And Ward adds a new chill to the relationship struggle in the word play of the song’s closing line:  “But we’re confident as killers, when we bear the arms of winter.”  I guess all IS fair in love and war.

“As the Story Goes” finally delivers the goods on what’s really bothering Our Hero.  Over a bed of dirge-like organ, growling synthesizer and martial drumming, the opening lines pretty much tell the whole story:  “I’ve been thinking about the evening’s Christmas cheer / and your useless souvenirs / and the fact you’ve disappeared.”  There’s nothing quite like getting dumped over the holidays.  The drummer stops, the chord is held – as a listener, you almost hold your breath.  Then the chord changes and the song can proceed. 

Head of Fern is just your average great pop song concerning violent revolution on the part of vegetation.   Imagine that George Orwell had composed lyrics for Stevie Wonder's Secret Life of Plants and come up with the theme song for David Lynch's vision of the Apocalypse. Now imagine you can sing-along. “God rest the great pines.”  Such is Head of Fern.

As the album comes to a close, Ward’s lyrics begin to shake off regret and look ahead.  “The Ides of Spring” speaks of tempting fate, daring to fall in love again, in spite of the potential dangers (“A fable laid to waste” – what a lovely phrase).  The album’s closing track, “We’ve Got to Find The Light”, looks beyond the Christmas breakup to what lies ahead:  “Wounds to scars as the holiday dissolves / Greet the change with open arms and no alarm.”

For a guy who hadn’t released a new record in over ten years, it seems that Steve Ward hasn’t missed a beat.  Fauna Flora distills the pain of lost romance into sweet and mellow elixir.  Have a taste and I bet you will want to hear this artist’s earlier work.  And just in case you missed it the first two times…

Run - don't walk, RUN - out and buy the new album by a band called Fauna Flora. 

[You can make that purchase at  http://faunafloramusic.com/   or http://fauna-flora.bandcamp.com/album/fauna-flora]

Take care.

Taking my best shot

Hi.  Long time, no write.  (Yeah, that's my entire segue...)

Anybody out there still angry about the massacre of first-graders in Connecticut?  Because I am.  I have left "shocked", "stunned", "devastated", "heart-broken" and "appalled" behind.  I'm pissed - and hoping to stay that way long enough to try doing something that will help to satisfy my conscience, if not actually prevent another tragedy.


Before I get too far along in my rant, I feel I should offer a disclaimer - in the interest of not wasting the reader's time.  In the next paragraph (or two), I'm going to start talking about how to try and prevent people from getting guns.  Not a speculation on whether or not that's the right way to prevent slaughters like the one that occurred in Newtown; not a discussion of what the Second Amendment means to me; not soul-searching on whether people, guns or bullets are most to blame for mass murder.  I'm way beyond that - so if you're not interested in some thoughts on how to get serious about restricting access to firearms, you should click the mouse and move on.  In any case, I wouldn't expect to change the minds of individuals who believe that they have a right to bear arms which must not be infringed.

But let me speculate boldly for a moment - that there are some who would agree that rational restrictions could be placed on the manufacture and sale of firearms.  That those restrictions need not prevent access to guns for persons who use them for sport or hunting.  That a person can protect him or herself without an automatic weapon.  Have these become radical ideas?  Listening to the political debate regarding gun control (fade up the chirping crickets), you would think so.  Now, why is that?

Oh, I remember - the National Rifle Association.  An organization with the money and influence to essentially prevent any real govenmental "interference" with weapons manufacture and sale.  An organization which (since 2005) has received 74% of its corporate donations from the firearms industry, totaling somewhere between $14.7 and $38.9 million (per the non-profit Violence Policy Center).

Why can't gun control organizations like the Brady Campaign compete?  Well, how many corporate sponsors do you think they have?  I know its shocking that the knife, axe and slingshot manufacturers haven't anted up in the hope that stricter gun laws might have the populace swarming to their life-threatening alternatives - but I think the situation speaks for itself.  There is clearly more cash to be generated in scaring people and manufacturing weapons, than there is in trying to convince people that they could do without automatic weaponry.

You're shocked - I can tell.  But maybe the question we should really be asking ourselves is this:  How can I help give gun control advocates the funding they need to compete with the NRA - and show my representatives in the Congress and Senate that the pro-gun lobby isn't the only side with political clout?

My answer:  Take the amount of money some people are spending on guns ($200-2000) and give it to an organization or politician that is dedicated to passing stricter gun laws.

To be most effective, that money should be channeled to a single gun control organization so they can go toe-to-toe with the NRA - and win.  But to move beyond anger and get something done, the people who want to see the sale of automatic weapons banned are going to need to spend some money - because you KNOW the people who want to buy those weapons are going to lay their money down.

Now I have to figure out who can make the most of my anti-gun dollars.  Once I do, you will be the first to know.

Take care.

Friends in Need

Today would have been Maddie Spohr's second birthday.
My lovely wife, the Middle-Aged Woman, wrote the tribute below.
If you have the means, please consider making a donation to help families with at-risk infants.
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I don't think there are too many people reading this who didn't have their heart broken on April 7th of this year. That's the day we learned that Madeline Alice Spohr, whom we all knew as Maddie from The Spohrs Are Multiplying, was suddenly taken from her parents, Heather and Mike, when a respiratory infection coupled with a collapsed lung was more than her 17-month-old body could fight. Thousands of people across the country mourned with Heather and Mike, and thousands came to their support by donating to the March of Dimes in Maddie's memory.

Since then, the Spohrs, along with family and friends, have created Friends of Maddie, a fund dedicated to supporting families of critically ill or prematurely-born infants during their stay in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with supplies, help finding temporary lodging (because the NICU isn't always within commuting distance of home), and by creating a network of support.

Friends of Maddie uses your donation to put together Support Packs for families who find themselves overwhelmed with the care of an at-risk newborn. The packs include items such as reusable water bottles, snack bars, tissues, mints, and most importantly, a tri-fold binder with a note pad and accordion file to keep track of paperwork.

"We're hopeful it will make it at a little easier for parents to keep track of everything," Heather says."You get SO many papers, business cards, etc., every day, and it's hard to keep track of everything."

She should know, she lived the experience. Maddie's sixty-eight-day stay in the NICU is chronicled on Heather's blog and her husband Mike's blog as well. Readers across the country followed every setback and every victory. What message would she like to pass on to parents in the same situation?

"Patience. Take things a day at a time and live in the moment. Don't look down the road or things will get REALLY scary and overwhelming," shared Heather.

The reaction to the packs has been terrific, according to Heather, "We've been getting a FANTASTIC response from everyone! We weren't expecting such a big response so we are really behind in getting back to everyone, but it's a good problem to have!"

• By now, you are all wondering how you can help, right? I knew it. You people rock. Your options: Donate! I know, the economy is bad right now, but every little bit helps. Or...
• Let your local NICU know about Friends of Maddie, or...
• Do you work for a company that might bring a valuable service to NICU parents? Contact FoM! Or...
• Just spread the word! Write a blog post! Send out a tweet! Y'all know how this works!

Mike and Heather's loss is unimaginable. In spite of their grief, they have found a way to pay forward all the love poured out from thousands of hearts across the Internet. Tell your friends about Friends of Maddie.
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Take care.