Marigolds Review
Sing Out! Magazine (Fall 2005)
Marigolds presents 13 expertly crafted songs…like those of Cheryl Wheeler but with more of a pop feel. There’s a directness to Beth Wood’s voice that maesk you lean a little closer to the speakers, and she has a slight twang, like an earthy Dolly Parton. Beth produced this album with Chris Rosser and, damn, did they do a good job, with pop-folk arrangements that serve the songs well, building emotion where needed and staying the heck out of the way in others. “1500 Times” opens with a clean guitar lick from Greg Horne that continues through the tune, providing the glue for an already fabulous country/pop number. In “Hurricane Caroline” you don’t know if she’s talking about a woman who’s big trouble or a real natural disaster. Either way, Caroline leaves a “hush and a bucket of rain” after she leaves. The title cut is a lovely piece featuring only Beth’s vocal, acoustic guitar and cello. Stunning. I love the liner notes that reveal inspiration for each song without telling us too much. She also tells us the tunings so you guitar geeks can find out how she gets those fabulous sounds, including DADGBD capoed at the 8th fret for “These Good Graces”. There are sharp images in “Skeleton Tree,” accented with the stab of a National steel guitar. A vivid portrait of three generations of women appears in “Someday Somebody Will.” Shawn Mullins shows up in “A Church of Melody, a feel-good song about music and her religion of choice. Dig the lush harmony vocals and the church style organ. It’s a perfect arrangement with wonderful dynamics and it doesn’t hurt that her writing is stellar here as it is on every song.