Carol Noonan has a dream. And that’s fair enough, since her music has been inspiring dreamers since she was the voice of the popular ’90s Boston-area band Knots and Crosses — a group whose concept of beauty was based on whispering dynamics, superbly controlled guitar craft, and, of course, Noonan’s gracefully sculpted melodies.
Noonan, who returns to Club Passim in Harvard Square this Saturday, March 18, for her annual appearance there, is about to realize her dream, in August, with the opening of the Stone Mountain Arts Center. The performance space and restaurant will reside in a barn that her husband, Jeff Flagg, used for constructing commercial fishing nets in Brownfield, Maine, where they live. It will be a musical gathering place for their neighbors. In rural Maine, that means just about everyone within an hour’s drive — though Brownfield is also close to the New Hampshire tourist mecca North Conway.
“I have to drive 20 minutes just to get groceries,” Noonan says. “I’ve lived around here since 1979, so I know that people here are used to traveling to do anything.”
Plus, Maine is having a live-music renaissance. “There are small arts centers all over Maine. Towns like ours are renovating grange halls and doing shows in churches, and I’m finding the shows are always sold out.”
Noonan’s shows always sell out too, whether they’re with her full band, with guitarists Duke Levine and Kevin Barry (whom she’ll play with at Passim), or in a duo with pianist Dana Cunningham. Her latest album is a collaboration with Cunningham, a neighbor whose musical approach twines handily with her own style of vocalizing. Called The Water Is Wide, it’s mostly softly poetic tunes that the two wrote together (there’s also a cover of Sting’s schmaltzy “Fields of Gold”), fusing Cunningham’s spiritual bent with the blend of retro and contemporary that Noonan developed through her affection for traditional Irish music and the years she’s devoted to her songwriting. Noonan has also self-released Sampler, Volume One, all but one of whose 14 tracks are culled from her six post–Knots and Crosses releases. The new tune, “Captain Concrete,” is an Ennio Morricone–flavored Western number that pays tribute to the guy who poured the basement floor of Stone Mountain Arts Center. Sales from both albums benefit the completion of the space.
“I’ve worked in kitchens all my life, so it’s not out of the realm for me to put on an apron and work in the restaurant. I’m planning on being the chef on the nights I’m not in the show. Jeff and I think the Center’s a good way for us to do something that would make us a living and maybe build a future for ourselves and the community. Each year I tend to play less and less, too. I’m not interested in being on the road anymore.”
Noonan’s fans might want to take that as a warning and see her hereabouts while they can. The Passim show will have Levine and Barry — two of New England’s most capable musicians — accompanying Noonan’s voice and acoustic guitar with their electric six-strings. “I really need somebody to play off, whether it’s Dana or my band or this trio. I hate playing solo, but the band is really unwieldy to take on the road. I’m planning to play with the band more when we get the Arts Center up. But I really like the trio. As guitarists they’re so generous with each other; they completely complement each other’s playing, and the three of us are friends, so we have strong musical and social ties. They’re just too funny, sometimes, and it’s more musically open. I have more flexibility with the trio than with a full band. We don’t rehearse; we know the tunes and know what each other will do and just have fun.
“My guitar playing has been changed by playing with those two. I’m the rhythm player in the trio, so they can do their magic, and they’ve carved a space out for me to do that, and I’ve learned to take advantage of that room. My playing’s gotten a lot stronger.”
Her singing, she adds, has also evolved since the Knots and Crosses day. “The big, high belting voice I had with Knots and Crosses isn’t there anymore. So I use my natural voice more — the one I’ve had since I was a kid. It doesn’t carry over drums as well, but it has its own set of subtleties and expression.”
And The Water Is Wide? “Dana and I do a couple of Christmas concerts around here every year, and a lot of people have told us they wanted to own a record by the both of us, so we did it as kind of a local fundraiser for the Arts Center. Everything I make goes into the Arts Center right now. And the excitement of working on the Center has really inspired me. I’m doing a lot of songwriting in different contexts. A lot of the songs are event-oriented, because I want to do a lot of theme nights.” The curious can visit www.stonemountainartscenter.com, where there’s a page of photos and a narrative tracking the Center’s progress. There are also links to a nearby hotel and to a B&B, which means diehards who make the trip up from Boston will have near-by accommodations. And, of course, you can order Sampler or The Water Is Wide.
“I’m planning to start working on a new album once the Arts Center is done,” Noonan says, “but for now I really have to concentrate on this. The Arts Center is the biggest thing I’ve ever done. And it’s a huge commitment. Hopefully, it’s going to succeed, because if it doesn’t we’re probably going to go broke.”
Carol Noonan | March 18, 8 pm | Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge | 617.492.7679
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On the Web:
Carol Noonan: //www.carolnoonanmusic.com/