As cultural and commercial circumstances conspire to shorten the
creative lifespans of musicians, it is of no small note that Tara Jane
O’Neil has been recording music for 16 years now, an anniversary marked
by the release of A Ways Away, her sixth solo album, and her
first for K Records. Of even greater note is that A Ways Away is
the finest album O’Neil has ever made, the ideal synthesis of her
sometimes divergent talents for textural experimentation,
folk-inflected traditionalism, and the characteristically Quarterstick
Records harmonic instability of her pre-Portland Louisville youth. That
this album is her current career capstone is saying a great deal, given
that her discography includes not only an impressive body of solo work,
but also genre-defining records (though which genres, exactly, who can
say?) with seminal bands like Retsin, the Sonora Pine and, lest we
forget, Rodan.
Since moving to Portland in 2004, O’Neil has firmly enmeshed herself
in the local creative community, frequently collaborating with a stable
of Portland musicians (to say nothing of her interdisciplinary work
with legendary ex-Hazel dancer Fred Nemo), including Mirah and
Valentine’s regulars like drummer Geoff Soule, bassist Bob Jones, and
violinist Osa Atoe, all of whom contributed to A Ways Away,
generating a rich soundscape for O’Neil’s delicate voice and
beautifully measured guitar work. I spoke with O’Neil about A Ways
Away on the occasion of the album’s release this week.
MERCURY: You have one of the most distinctive and
lovely electric guitar tones in contemporary music. The opening notes
of A Ways Away album opener “Dig In,” with their
warm, reverberant tremolo, make me feel like I’m listening to John
McLaughlin on In a Silent Way or a player
from that era and tradition. Forgive the total tech-headed-ness of this
question, but how did you arrive at your current instrumental setup?
What does it consist of?
TARA JANE O’NEIL: You are a nerd to get that. Awesome. I have always
loved John McLaughlin’s guitar on In a Silent Way. There’s also the
early Staples Singers’ guitar sound somewhere in there. I have a 1975
Gretsch Beast that contains some magic, for sure, and a couple of
inexpensive pedals. It’s all about touch though, isn’t it?
I think of you as primarily a guitarist and singer—and
there’s plenty of gorgeous string and vocal work on A Ways
Away—but it seems to me that several of the album’s
highlights like “Dig In” and “A New Binding” hinge on distant,
twinkling percussion loops. What is the role of percussion in your
music?
Percussion and pulse play a huge role. I could say all kinds of
things about what a beat does in a song. But I’ll talk about the
Ecstatic Tambourine Orchestra instead. I throw out tambourines, get
people to hit other things at all of my shows. I am playing a song and
they are accompanying me. Sometimes it switches and I follow them, but
at some point it becomes like a chant. Repetitive and irregular
percussion played by many people at the same time is one of the most
exciting things I can think of. I’ll leave it at that.
Did you make the cover art for A Ways
Away?
Yes. It started from a photograph I took at a friend’s gallery
installation. The things that weren’t really there in her piece are the
things I used—my silhouette and the blue light that created the
silhouette. What grew around and in those shapes is a cipher tree.
Tara Jane O’Neil performs at Fontanelle Gallery (205 SW Pine) on
Thursday, April 30, with super-secret guests playing super-special
sets.
I wish I were a tenth as talented as TJO.