Hem blends vocals, orchestra for unique sound

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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The Brooklyn-based quartet of Sally Ellyson, Dan Messe, Steve Curtis and Gary Maurer, a.k.a. Hem, is an Americana band unlike anything you have ever heard before. Their new CD, titled "Eveningland" (on Zoe/Rounder Records), is an album of rich, soothing sounds served up with an orchestra, guitars, drums, pedal steel, piano, glockenspiel, celeste, mandolin, banjo, upright bass and -- over it all -- the gorgeous voice of Ellyson.

This group will be making an appearance at SPACE in Portland on Thursday, opening for Erin McKeown.

In a recent telephone interview from Brooklyn, Ellyson and Messe were contacted to talk about that upcoming gig. One wondered if their new album was indicative of what the band is like live.

"We can't bring a 40-piece orchestra on stage with us," Messe chuckled as the interview began, "so we have to re-create with the people that are on stage. The pedal steel, for example, is basically playing the string parts, the mandolin's playing the wind's part.

"The drummer plays the drum part, but it's all in the way it's arranged -- it still sounds orchestral," he added. "We've never had anyone say, 'Boy, I really missed the orchestra!' We still try to frame Sally's voice in a very delicate way so as not to get in the way of the emotion coming from her voice. "

"We also hear a lot that the live show sounds a lot like the album," Ellyson said. "So, yes, people can expect to hear something similar to 'Eveningland.'"

The group's first album, "The Rabbit Songs," was, in Messe's opinion, a little more of a "folks-y" release with 18 people performing on it as opposed to over the hundred musicians who were present on their latest CD. "So the first album was like 'chamber folk' as opposed to full-fledged orchestra folk," Messe chuckled.

" 'Eveningland" has also been classified a little bit as country-politan," the lead singer interjected. "So it's got a little studio shine in there, too."

What folks can expect from Hem's opening set at SPACE?

"We're going to do what we do which is perform the songs that we love," Messe said, "country-folk lullabies featuring Sally's voice. Whether we're playing with four people on stage or nine people on stage, it tends to be just a group of people who love music and love making it together -- that's really how we approach it."

"I think people can expect a very relaxing, beautiful and, hopefully, a comforting experience," Ellyson said.

"We really have tried to make music," the keyboardist added said. "That is -- especially with 'Eveningland' -- all about comfort. I mean, the world is harsh and hard enough so we want to give people comfort, and maybe we'll find some comfort in that ourselves."

Lucky Clark lives and writes in Sweden, Maine.