"this year I'm a
folksinger"
(photo : Lou Ann Bardash)
Well we're not talking
Burl Ives here, the folksingers you'd have to
look to are Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell,
Jimmie Rogers. dark, underbelly, political
truth-saying kinda folksingers and yup Nashville
didn't take too much notice of this kind of fly
in the ointment. Ovans belonged to the other
Nashville of Hoekstra, Earle and Harlan Howard
but still relocated to Austin maybe after one
Garth Brooks repackaging too many. The above
quote was given to a journalist who enquired
where to find his 1997 masterpiece 'Dead South' -
he replied-
"I think they've
got me in the folk section this year - Maybe
this year I'm a folksinger".
Needless to say I like
this kind of folksinger. Ovans has received a lot
of comparisons to Dylan -there's an undeniable
influence there -the same gritty determination to
mine back into the true folk heritage - but
mostly commentators ignore the fact that Ovans
belongs to a whole substrata of authentic folk
artists who work this particular rich seam of
blues/ folk and country ore. Tom Pacheco, Bob
Martin, Eric Anderson, Richard Buckner- all come
to mind as operating in a similar area.That they
all seem to receive as much if not more attention
over here in Europe as they do in the states
perhaps because of the marketing grip the
conglomerates have there? Whatever ,we're
fortunate that small artists now self-release and
receive distribution support that enables them to
make infrequent visits and at least get their
discs out there -whatever the section.
If I had to recommend one
disc the 1997 'Dead South' would come top,
closely followed by the new 'The Beat Trade' and
'Tales from Underground' - all essential. For the
beginner 'Nuclear Sky' is a good place to start,
if still available through Demon, although all
his albums offer some great tracks so if you're a
fan of literate folk/blues in the Tom Russell,
Butch Hancock mode go track 'em down!
BIOGRAPHY
Born in a town near Boston
June 8, 1953 he left home at 18 and criss-crossed
America -sleeping on the beach at Big Sur,
walking to New Orleans, ending up on the streets
of Greenwich Village swapping tales with a fading
Phil Ochs or watching Tim Hardin amongst the Viet
Vets, punks and sixties fall-out. He soaked up
the various influences, punk, country, glam that
swirled around him whilst doing a series of jobs
to survive. He's done everything from
house-painting to factory shifts. All to provide
the dollars to get his demos recorded and keep
his music-making going. As he himself has said
" it's easier to make a buck digging a ditch
than from the music business".After a stint
back in Cambridge he finally struck out for
Nashville where he received the warm indifference
that prompted the setting up of NSR and the
European break-through. The experiences of his
wanderlust and working had all fed his particular
lyricism that mixes a renegade beat cynicism with
moments of imagistic bliss. Some critics have
found it bleak, almost nihilistic but to me it's
just american realism in the Carver/
Kerouac/Whitman vein. He and Lou Ann Bardash now
live in Austin and run NRS Recordings. Tom has
been making appearances at the Cactus Cafe and on
local radio. Lou Ann has exhibited her paintings
which adorn some of the discs as well as
conducting her own solo career. In November they
are visiting London to promote the new Floating
World record.
tOM OvaNs
Industrial
Days - 1991 NSR Recordings
Unreal City - 1993 NSR
Recordings
Tales From
The Underground -1995 NSR
Nuclear Sky - 1996
Demon Records
Dead South - 1997 Demon Records
The
Beat Trade - 1999 Floating World