CarLeans, Jim Carpenter aim for the future with new albums, a tour

February 12, 2016 11:01 pm • Last Updated: February 12, 2016 11:06 pm

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

The CarLeans provides songwriter Jim Carpenter with a late-breaking opportunity

In 2010, The Day started an ongoing print/video series called "Song Spinner," which allowed local tunesmiths to explain how they do what they do. By design, the first episode focused on Niantic's Americana performer Jim Carpenter and his literate and melodic catalog.

At that time, Carpenter said, "It's always the same process for me. There's always a melody and I have to get very quiet and patient with that melody because I know that's just the key that opens the door. I wait and wait and sometimes I wait a very long time and when it comes to me, it's completely formed. It doesn't feel like I'm building it — it feels like I'm being dictated to."

Let's just say that, six years on, Carpenter is more adept than ever at taking dictation from his own amazing Muse. He's always working on songs, most of which to date have found a home in his band The Hoolios.

Of late, though, in a concerted effort to expand horizons and perhaps break material in a national context, Carpenter has, with singer-songwriter Sarah MacLean (The MacLean Sisters) and bassist Corina Malbaurn (John Fries, Preston Franz, MacLean Sisters) started a new band called The CarLeans.

They've just released a wonderful debut album, "Drowning Moon," and celebrate with a performance and release party tonight in the Rose Barn Theater at Waterford's Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

At the same time, Carpenter had been stockpiling and recording a batch of original tunes he didn't feel were quite right for The Hoolios. Coincidentally, a solo album, a gorgeous and reflective work called "Poor Girl's Dream," is now available. As part of tonight's activities, after The CarLeans perform, The Hoolios will present a "Dance Party" set that should showcase selected material from "Poor Girl's Dream."

To properly toast both albums, the Revival Brewery will be on hand to christen the festivities off with a tasting from 6 to 7 p.m.

In contemplation of this sonic onslaught, Carpenter says, "The solo record was already made by the time The CarLeans got moving. I look at it all as documentation." He laughs softly. "I gotta get it all down before something happens to me. Sometimes I think this is a last bastion for me."

Almost 59, and having spent a lot of time futilely pitching songs on Nashville's Music Row, Carpenter can be forgiven if he might feel the cruel wind of time blowing by. Despite winning numerous songwriting competitions, the spare, narrative and deeply confessional nature of his tunes — very much the caliber of the sort of work done by Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark — simply haven't fit the polished formula of modern country music.

And plans to establish The Hoolios — one of the most versatile and astonishing bands in all of New England — as a national entity have crumbled time after time. The reality is that members of the band aren't young anymore; they have jobs and some have children and the full-time nature of touring, requisite to breaking an act nationally, isn't possible. The Hoolios are ongoing, but Carpenter wants to pursue all opportunities.

Some of this cumulative career frustration perhaps fueled the bittersweet tunes and mournful souls depicted on "Poor Girl's Dream," though the material seems more reflective of Carpenter's penchant for short story writing and a fascination with the dark Southern literary tradition inspired by his youth in Virginia and Florida. He frequently mines such topics as religion and spirituality, doomed love and flawed characters, madness, grace and the hope of redemption.

"I think with this record I've completed the exploration into melancholia," Carpenter says. "I hope so. Melancholia is healthy and not healthy. How can you look forward positively — but not look backwards, too, and wonder? Maybe it's a little bit of that grotesque Southern thing."

Carpenter laughs. "Some of my colleagues up here are fascinated by this aspect of my songs. 'Why did you go that far?' I have this weird thing about having the courage to take characters and really explore them in a way that others would think is a waste of time or maybe even invasive. I'm looking at the human condition but I'm kind of ballsy about it. I don't think it's morbid; it's that Southern ethic where darkness is balanced by light."

There are thematic similarities on "Drowning Moon," though MacLean wrote many of the tunes on the record — a happy fact that mirrors the casual formation of the band. In addition to his songwriting, Carpenter is much in demand as a producer, and he was contacted by Sarah and Rachel MacLean to oversee "Other Side of Loving You," the debut MacLean Sisters album. He later started to join the sisters onstage playing backing guitar.

"Jim producing our record was one of the best things that could have happened to us," Sarah MacLean says. "He took our green enthusiasm and made a record that was organic and exactly what we wanted, even when we couldn't articulate it. I think that experience was powerful for us — to find someone you really enjoy working with and who understands you musically."

But The MacLean Sisters were also limited in terms of opportunities. Rachel is a new mother whose parental duties require admirable focus — a situation that led Sarah to explore other creative options.

"I don't know if there was an exact moment when the CarLeans became 'a thing' more than a natural transition," she says. "There was probably a really boring conversation where I said to Jim, 'Hey, we should play music together,' and he said, 'Yup.'"

Carpenter says, "The CarLeans was kind of like water seeking it's level. I've been looking forever for someone to sing with. The first MacLeans record — the songs they wrote — just blew me away."

With Rachel being a mom, MacLean and Carpenter started playing shows and writing songs together, and both sisters provided harmony vocals on "Poor Girl's Dream." During those sessions, the idea for a CarLeans album came up.

"We had a few songs, so Sarah wrote a few more pieces and I wrote a few more and suddenly we had enough songs," Carpenter says. The two trade lead vocals and support one another vocally. MacLean's tunes have a melodic sophistication that reflects her gorgeous range, and if they avoid Carpenter's complex storytelling, they convey a wise and cautious approach to romance and relationships.

The original idea was for the pair to simply present the material with voice and guitar but, Carpenter says, the evolution of the songs suggested a bit of augmentation. Malbaurn, a conservatory-trained bassist of insane ability and creativity — and a friend/colleague to both — was the perfect solution.

"Corina's so very, very good, and such a blast to work with," Carpenter says. "We've become three close friends. It's like the old days: you have a band and rehearse and then you go have beers and talk about and listen to music. The older you get, that doesn't happen so much and I really missed the whole experience."

It was a perfect match for Malbaurn, too.

"I love their songwriting," she says. "As a bassist who plays many styles, I tend to gravitate towards writers who work in many emotions. I love everything about their songs, from the lyrics to the chord structures."

Carpenter says the fact that he's considerably older hasn't been an issue. "I don't want this to be a cliché, but I feel like this is a new lease on life and a new opportunity. A new lease on music. These guys keep me young."

"I think Corina and I energize Jim and he grounds us," MacLean says. "His experience alone is so valuable — he's gracious and kind with very high musical standards. I'm so excited for the 'Drowning Moon' tour, and the goal is always to keep getting into some good spaces in front of people that appreciate the music."

Indeed, with The CarLeans, Carpenter at last seems to have found the situation where he can "go for it." The band soon embarks on a mini tour starting in New York City and running through the South. It will hopefully be, he says, the first of many that could provide the ripple effect necessary to move to the next level.

"I got blocked out (of Nashville) because I didn't see myself as a performer but as a songwriter," Carpenter says. "Well, that's not going to happen. I do like to perform, but in small venues with people I'm comfortable with. You have to get out of town to make it, and now I have Corina and Sarah and that makes all the difference."

"This is a band I can see going anywhere in the world and having a blast," Malbaurn says. "Bands that act like family seem to have something magical and I feel like I've found that with Jim and Sarah."