My recent single, Carry the Water (for Erin), was featured on a Italian music blog:
https://www.indieitalia.it/post/tim-gaudreau-carry-the-water-for-erin-la-voce-dell-indie-impegnato
A rough English translation is pasted in below:
Tim Gaudreau “Carry the Water (for Erin)” – The voice of the committed indie
Carry the Water is a diamond in the rough and therefore even more authentic, from which all the sincerity and depth of Tim emerges, who once again proves to be a romantic artist both in rediscovering a musical production in some way virgin, and for his own ideals and feelings.
Active artist and environmentalist
Tim Gaudreau is an eco-artist passionate about the environment and the interconnections between people and nature. He works collaboratively with like-minded colleagues, communities and schools to create public works of art designed to challenge conventional thinking and catalyze action on environmental issues. Her work combines photography, video, new media, graphics and sculpture with humor and irony to create collaborations that support greater awareness of ecological issues and empowerment. What it does initiates dialogue on social and environmental issues and acts as an entrance to improve the relationship of men with nature and consider each individual impact.
Gaudreau lives and works in his sustainable studio in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on a farm with his wife, daughter, cats and a surprising number of deer. When his region had long been suffering from drought and his farm was struggling without enough water, he decided to participate in a Native American prayer for water to coincide with the full moon, led by a Lakota healer.
His song Carry the Water (for Erin) was written after this incident. “I wrote the song about my friend Erin, with whom I had rich conversations about the meaning of life, about spirituality and how to face the world with love rather than fear. Shortly after writing the song, Erin died unexpectedly, ”says the artist.
The underlying context of all his songs is influenced by thinking about climate change and the current political turmoil in the United States. These elements may not be obvious at first glance, but there is a strong leitmotif to all of his work. Gaudreau has been an artist all his life and has always included in all his works a sense of defense and examination of social issues and more specifically of environmental ones.
Socially committed and sentimental
During the first year of the pandemic he wrote a song a month; the fourth is out on December 3 and is a series of 12 tracks, which will be released on a monthly basis. The music he creates is generally acoustic songwriting, mostly influenced by Neil Young and Bob Dylan. In fact, his compositions refer to the boundless trend of folk-country music typical of the American tradition.
Beyond the noble and meritorious social commitment, many works are cloaked in a profound sentiment. Indeed, among the most popular songs in his collections, such as Longing Lost and Save the Day, shines a sweet taste of melancholy, and Carry the Water is no exception in this regard. The song has a slow and calm rhythm, but thanks to Tim’s warm voice and acoustic guitar lines, it manages to express what is most beautiful can come out of a profound person like the American singer-songwriter.
Although the track never takes on a particularly heartfelt tone, the soothing musicality in the verses creates an enthralling melody. The opening stanzas immediately demonstrate (as indeed also in other songs) a timbre and a vocal dough that has nothing to envy to illustrious songwriters in the folk scene.
Shortly after the intro, accompanying Tim in the background is a precious female voice, a fine and accurate voice that intersects with Tim’s: a vocal contribution that gives the song a sense of gold. An accompaniment that leads to the refrain where Carry the Water touches the melodically highest point.
The chorus is unforgettable once heard, due to Tim’s passionate voice filled in the background by a sweet female “howl”. Carry the Water is therefore an undisturbed diamond and therefore even more authentic, from which all the sincerity and depth of Tim emerge, who once again proves to be a romantic artist both in rediscovering a musical production in some way virgin, and for their ideals and feelings.
