Sara Hickman Motherlode CD

Sara Hickman is a singer, songwriter, muralist, designer, producer, mom, guitarist, arranger, storyteller, bowler, teacher, photographer, film maker, and she has been making albums since 1988.She has been on major labels, indie labels, and now has her own label. her music is positive and makes you think. she's won a bunch of awards, she's been on the tonight show, she has been on VH-1, she has been to Rumania to work with orphans, and she currently goes around the U.S. singing and reading to children in hospitals on behalf of Half Price Books as their National Ambassador of Reading, where she also gives kids free CD and books to help them feel loved.She has performed with: Billy Bragg, Psychedelic Furs, John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Dan Fogelberg, Bjork, Asleep at the Wheel, Brave Combo, David Garza, Shawn Colvin, Mel Torme, Peter Himmelman and a bunch of other folks all over the world.She likes to garden and spend time with her two children. she has five cats and is also making children's music ("newborn" and "toddler" are the names of her first two cds.) someday she would like to have a houseboat and/or be on David Letterman, whom she adores. she thanks you for taking the time to read this. if you'd like to know more, please feel free to visit www.sarahickman.com

A glance at the photo on Sara Hickman's The Motherlode hints at the ambition of the double album within: an explicit photo from the Kama Sutra is fronted by an ironing board (on fire) and a basket of clothes. These items form the themes of her albums, one about the heartache of domestic violence and drudgery, the other about the joys of sex and love. Hickman covers these 20 songs in a pleasant, contemporary folk style, relying on a lovely acoustic-based soundscape and her airy vocals. One conceptual problem with the first disc, however, is the fact that even while Hickman is singing about women being slaves to their husbands for the rest of their lives on the traditional "Wagoner's Lad," or complaining about life on a jagged edge on "Living in Quiet Desperation," it all sounds, musically, rather pleasant. Desperation, it seems, should sound desperate. This is the same problem Sarah McLachlan has occasionally had, offering heart-rending songs that make one want to happily singalong. This lack of pathos doesn't mean the music is a failure, only that it misses its intended mark. It also means that the second, happier disc, does a better job integrating music and lyrics. The "Birdhouse" reminds one of Joni Mitchell at her most expansive in the mid-'70s, with a thick bass underpinning this lovely song. The arrangements, as with the horns on "Two Days Today," add considerably to the joyful mood. For Hickman aficionados, lovers of women's music, and political folkies, The Motherlode, with nearly an hour-and-a-half of music, will be a real treat. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Additional personnel: Jimmy LaFave, Adrian Belew, Kelly Willis, Ruthie Foster, Shawn Colvin.

No Depression (p.133) - "MOTHERLODE is exceptionally well-done, with Hickman's beautiful voice on fine display."