MARCH 2008 ONLINE EDITORIALS

Barbara Clark - She Won't Wait

album cover

By Nate Harper

The music of Fort Collins resident and Texas expatriate Barbara Clark immediately evokes the sounds of the rural countryside. Whether the dream of a simpler America was ever true, Clark’s brand of Americana, country and folk-rock harkens back to an idealized era of small town love and the poetry of domestic life.
On her new record “She Won’t Wait,” Clark benefits from amazing production and crisp, rich musical backing – the CD was recorded at Fort Collins’ Morningwood studios – but it is her voice that impresses the most.

Soaring and full, Clark’s vocals take center stage, and deservedly so. Though she also proves herself a capable songwriter, her voice has a rare quality to it, which sets her apart from a field full of people striving to marry personal songs with public appeal. Simply put, for how good her voice sounds, I’m surprised she’s not more popular within her genre.

And while her sound may bring times past to mind, her songs are decidedly contemporary. Whether looking at faith in America, her unabashed crush on Lyle Lovett or Fort Collins’ own Highway 287, Clark finds a pleasing blend of classic country and timeless acoustic guitar to accompany her engaging lyrics. Over the course of the album she paints the picture of a woman who’s just trying to get by while enjoying life as well, a blue collar girl on the other side of 40 looking back at the past while at the same time anticipating what the future holds.

While I’m sure it’s heartfelt, the album’s spiritual song, Faith - not a George Michael cover - almost feels too wholesomely earnest when put with the bittersweet tone of many of the record’s other more serious songs. Too pleading to simply be an admonishment, the track feels a bit out of place next to the songs remembering past lovers and wild rides from the days gone by. But even that track succeeds thanks to the impressive vocal production and concern for acoustic detail that obviously was a large part of the recording process.

Perhaps more than anything else, “She Won’t Wait” succeeds as an empathetic opus, at it’s best when it makes the listener feel as though Clark has been down there in the trenches of life as well, and that yes, you will make it through, and although there’s a cost, wisdom will be your reward.