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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Dave Schramm, an original member of
Yo La Tengo who is featured on their first album,
made a name as an old-fashioned country guitarist with the
country-rock combo Schramms (which also included
Human Switchboard's drummer Ron Metz).
While Walk To Delphi (Okra, 1990) was a showcase for the group's
dexterity, Schramm started developing the voice of a songwriter with
Rock Paper Scissors Dynamite (Okra, 1992), that boasts two of his
lyrical gems:
Talking To Me Poor and Her Darkness.
Unfortunately,
Little Apocalypse (Easi Side Digital, 1994) marks a return to the
country-rock format of the debut album (although at least
Heart Not Within and
A Woman's Name achieve a modest grandeur).
In the meantime, Schramm had helped Virginia-born singer songwriter
Kate Jacobs record her literate country albums
The Calm Comes After (Small Pond, 1992) and
What About Regret (Bar None, 1995), the latter containing the single
A Sister.
Schramm then left the band to start his solo career.
Folk Und Die Folgen (Return To Sender, 1994) established as a major
writer and interpreter, capable of Leonard Cohen's quiet desperation and
magically skilled at spare arrangements.
Even simpler is the sound of Hammer And Nails (Catamount, 1999),
despite his best instrumental ever, Lambet Lullaby.
The Schramms' evocative roots-rock pivots on three pillars: the leader's
rhythm and blues vocals, his dissonant guitar licks and the majestic work of
Andrew Harris on accordion and keyboards.
Torn In Two and
Mary Come Lately, the standout tracks of
100 Questions (Innerstate, 2000), sound like a cross between
Dream Syndicate and
Palace Brothers.
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