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From folk music to choirs and children’s books, Tracy Spring does it all

Multi-faceted artist will perform at New Prospect Theatre this month

By Jesse Stanton CDN Contributor

Tracy Spring is the sort of music-scene veteran who could easily coast on her laurels if she wanted to. After four decades of writing, recording and touring, you wouldn’t necessarily expect her to be constantly moving on to challenging new projects.

And yet that’s exactly what Spring does, branching out from her roots in singer/songwriter folk music to explore interests in children’s books and choral music, among other things. At her upcoming Thursday, Jan. 30 concert at New Prospect Theatre, she’ll be weaving all these threads together in a show that highlights the many facets of her talent.

Let’s start with fundamentals: The foundation of what Spring does is writing and singing songs designed to inspire listeners with inspirational messages. There’s some heartache in them — and even some grim history — but plenty of hope and humor as well.

Spring is an accomplished guitarist who loves experimenting with alternative tunings, and has even presented workshops and published a book on that topic. Her partner of many years, fellow songwriter T.R. Ritchie, passed away in 2014. She honors his legacy by continuing to perform his songs in her sets.

Spring has played at folk festivals and clubs all over North America, and has also toured Australia. It’s been a while since she’s done a new album of her originals, but 2011’s “Looking Forward- Looking Back” still serves as an excellent introduction to her music. She’s even available for songwriting commissions: if you need an original song for just about any sort of event, she can do that for you!

Spring’s sound combines blues, swing, old R&B, jazz and folk. (Photo courtesy of TR Ritchie)

In recent years Spring has also been writing choral arrangements for some of her older songs as part of a project she calls “Songs of Hope and Humanity.” The idea is that when they’re done, these arrangements will be available to choirs, churches and other singing groups.  Many of her songs deal with themes of justice and social progress, so it makes sense that she would want to get them out into the world in other contexts to keep inspiring people. At this concert, she’ll have a nine-member vocal ensemble performing with her to bring her songs to life as choral works. 

She has also recently published her first book for children, with at least two more in the pipeline. “Love Doesn’t Care Who You Love” came out last year and is based on the lyrics to one of her songs, with illustrations by the local musician and artist Bob Paltrow. Copies of that one will be on sale at the concert (or at Village Books if you can’t make it out). The two still in progress are “Velzoe’s Garden,” based on another song of hers, and “The Red Bull,” based on a true story from the 1920’s Australian outback.  

Spring’s New Prospect show kicks off at 7 p.m. In addition to the nine vocalists, she’ll be joined by Orion Lackey on keyboards and Charlie Maliszewski on blues harmonica. This event will bring together a lot of different musicians and musical ideas, supporting a comprehensive look at one of the most remarkable talents in our area. If you’re interested in folk music that is mesmerizing and uplifting in equal parts, this show is not to be missed.

News 

I’m always a big fan of the idea of recurring events that give audiences for any particular scene a chance to grow and build. The folks behind The Subdued Stringband Jamboree have also long cultivated such an audience for their summer Thursday nights in the Boundary Bay beer garden, known as the Garden Twilight series. I was glad to hear they’re going to be bringing some of that magic to the gray of winter with a new run of Thursday shows at the Orion’s Odd Fellows Temple Room. (It’s also great to see that space being used for live music on some other nights.)


Bellingham musician Devin Champlin will perform on Feb. 6 at the Orion’s Oddfellows Temple Room as part of the Winter Starlight series. (Cocoa Laney/Cascadia Daily News)

The Winter Starlight series so far includes Baby Gramps and Devin Champlin on Feb. 6, Pharis and Jason Romero on Feb. 20 and Petunia & The Vipers on March 20. Festival organizer Robert Sarazin Blake will also be celebrating his new album there on Feb. 28. 

There are a lot of big local releases coming up this spring! In addition to Robert’s new album, I’m looking forward to hearing the new ones from Cumulus, Morgan McHugh, The Problem and some new songs from The Hobby. As always, to the musicians out there, make sure to send me your stuff.

Jesse Stanton's music column, The Beat Goes On, appears weekly. Reach him at jsbhammusic@gmail.com; @JSBhamMusic. Check with individual venues to make sure events are still taking place as scheduled. Live music events in Whatcom County: http://www.cascadiadaily.com/category/living/arts-and-entertainment/music/music-calendar

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