Newcomer and band keep it interesting

'Wonderful people' of Oberlin draw third concert

Carrie Newcomer makes her third trip to Oberlin Saturday with strange expectations. "We love Oberlin," Newcomer said. "[Oberlin students] are the most wonderful people to play for. Besides that, we can go bowl in between sets."

Oberlin is the midway-stop on Newcomer's tour, which she's breaking up into two three-week chunks. This tour, she's playing with a full band, something she's never done on the East Coast. She's worked with this band for a year and a half to record her most recent album, My Father's Only Son.

"This band really kicks," Newcomer said. "For me, it's the best of all worlds." Since the band members are all "very versatile," the touring experience this time around has been musically educational as well as just fun. All the musicians "play intuitively with each other, and musically you have lots of options," she said, so her performances can range from Newcomer herself to a stripped-down ensemble to a full-fledged group, which makes for a "gutsy" performance on-stage.

New to the entourage are Jennifer Kimball from The Story, who is contributing background vocals as well as premiering some of her own songs, and Keith Skooglund on lead guitar and vocals. The two new members "keep things interesting and changing."

Other band members include Jamie Reid, Jack Welsey, Robert Meitus and David Wierhake. "It's one of the requirements of the band," joked Newcomer, "that your name be hard to pronounce and harder to spell."

Newcomer started playing flute in her school band and orchestra, but noticed "it was sort of hard to sing and play the flute." She picked up the guitar in high school, but was shy at first about playing in public.

"You get different experiences at a kid, and then you do something in particular and go `wow.' That experience for me was music," she said.

Newcomer put herself through college, all four that she attended - "How many credits can you lose in an undergraduate career?" seemed to be the theme of her college career - by playing music at coffeehouses and parties, and doing other odd jobs. She wasn't ready to really perform her music until after she graduated with a degree in Visual Arts. "Sometimes when something you love is so close to your heart, you get scared to risk it," she said.

Though she's given her life to music, she still carries her paint set with her. "I don't think a life in the arts is something you choose to do. It calls you and you follow it," she said. She's glad she's chosen the route she has, even when it leads her back to Oberlin.

"I don't know what it is about Oberlin," said Newcomer, "but it's wacky. People are warm and receptive, and we get silly."