'I stood in a tent near the hospital in Exeter, NH, on a rainy day in June 2002. Thirty people were singing my songs along with me. 'J'ai Gagne (I Won)' and 'January Thaw' were favorites of the cancer survivors' support group there; a social worker had found my music on the Internet. It was such a visceral feeling of triumph over suffering and a joy at being alive and together - that day gave me fuel for months, ' recalls Ina May Wool. Ina May Wool has garnered her share of affirmation and acclaim since the release of her debut CD, 'Moon Over 97th Street' in 1999. The Edinburgh Folk Festival invited her to play, and she toured the UK as well as in Europe. Representatives from BMI and ASCAP chose one of her songs for a CD of the 15 best unsigned acoustic artists worldwide, and she's been a finalist in the New Jersey Folk Festival songwriter contest and the Plowshares Songwriting Competition. The Just Plain Folks Music Awards named 'Elephant Learning to Dance' the best song by a female singer/songwriter and placed 'Moon Over 97th Street' in the top five albums worldwide. Suzanne Vega included one of her tunes on the Vigil CD, a collection by New York songwriters after 9/11 also featuring Vega, Christine Lavin, Richard Julian, and Jack Hardy. In the 13 songs on the new CD, 'Crack It Open' (release November 2003), Wool travels further down some of the roads hinted at in her debut. 'When Tears Come Down' rings of some undiscovered Hank Williams gem you'd swear must have been burnished by time. 'Lucky' is a love song with just the right touch of quirkiness. 'Frida' broods but stays vibrant with colors and celebrates Frida Kahlo's strength and fire. Throughout the CD you'll find gorgeous vocal harmonies and a musical palette featuring rich color from accordion to steel guitar to banjo to clarinet to Irish bouzouki to mandolin. 'We were riding in the car listening over and over to this new CD - and it dawned on me that there is a theme I hadn't planned at all coming through all these songs. It's all about survival with joy intact, with rebirth and renewal.' Wool's come to this new place in her life and writing from an eclectic apprenticeship - from bar bands to opening concerts in her native New England to New York's off off Broadway and r & b and jazz singing. She's found her way back to an intimate and personal blend of early acoustic folk guitar and vocal influences with the jazz, rock, and soul she's also loved over the years. Since the release of 'Moon Over 97th Street' in 1999, Ina May has toured from Maine to D.C. to Chicago and shared stages with Leo Kottke, Sloan Wainwright, David Massengill, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, and Richard Thompson. 'Writing the songs for this CD I tried to let it come -- whatever it sounded like at 5 in the morning when I was writing a song in my kitchen. Maybe it was blues or bluegrass - I didn't know - but I had to stop worrying about those distinctions and just let it go.' ---- INDIE-MUSIC. 9/11/04 Quote: 'This whole album feels like an embrace.' By Jennifer Layton This is my month. So many of my favorite indies are coming out with new projects. For some of them, it's been way too long between albums. Ina May Wool is one of those indies. The title track from her 1999 release Moon Over 97th Street still makes it's way onto my mix tapes. Now, I have Crack it Open, a CD that kicks open the door the first CD cracked open and pours light and color everywhere. Moon was quietly reflective. Crack it Open is joyous, spirited, occasionally playful, and absolutely perfect from first note to last. In case I'm not being clear, I love this CD. Wool's voice has always had a Rickie Lee Jones feel. Here, she sounds like Jones playing a festival on a playground, pausing every now and then for a spin on the carousel or a trip head-first down the slide. There are sad songs here, but Wool's never been one to wallow in the blues. Instead, 'When Tears Come Down' takes lyrics about getting burned and sets them to twangy, gutsy, soulful music. I found myself singing along with her, reading along with the lyrics in
