The Latest News
Taking root: Newcomer values Hoosier background
January 24th, 2008
by Marcia Fulmer-The Elkhart Truth
Bloomington, IN -- Carrie Newcomer grew up in Elkhart and the hometown girl has never strayed too far from her roots -- geographically, emotionally or intellectually.
Now living near Bloomington, "When I come to that part of the state (northern Indiana), my heart kind of goes home," she said. "We carry our landscapes with us."
Beginning a tour to celebrate the release of her 11th CD, "The Geography of Light," she continues to receive unequivocal raves for the songs she writes, sings and plays, a multi-talent she credits Van Young, her English teacher at Central High School, with bringing out in the open.
"I was very shy," Newcomer said. "He said instead of writing a paper on the books we read, I could write a song ... but I had to sing it to the class. After two semesters, I had a whole collection. I did a concert. It was the first time I took the risk of putting myself and my songs out in front of the public."
Those who have never had the Newcomer "experience," will have that opportunity Feb. 8 when she joins fellow singer/songwriter John McCutcheon in a concert for the Goshen College Performing Artist Series.
A prolific writer not only of music and lyrics but also of stories, poetry, essays and all manner of prose, Newcomer explained that "writing is how I process my life and the world around me. How I make sense of the world.
"I believe the more I write consistently, the better writer I become. When inspiration strikes, then your skills are sharp and you're ready for it."
Songs often come out of these writings and are, she said, "my take on my walking around as a human being." She writes constantly, carrying a notebook wherever she is. "Hotels and airports are the best place for character studies," Newcomer said.
The extent of these "studies" is apparent in her music. On the new CD, track themes vary from a look at Indiana "Geodes" as a life metaphor to satirical advice for Internet correspondents, "Don't Push Send."
The wide range of topics on CD 11 continues to mirror her growth, as an artist and a person, according to Newcomer.
"When you have that many CDs, you have to become comfortable with your growth becoming public," she said. "Every album is like a book, each from a particular part of my life. I learn something from every album ... at least, I hope so."
Songwriting, Newcomer explained, is a very particular format. "You only have a very brief time to say what you mean. Songs are real time. You hear them and, if you lose a listener for one line, you have lost him for five. Simple is not easy."
Her Indiana roots have played a big part in Newcomer's development as an artist.
"Something really wonderful happened to my songwriting when I became comfortable with being a Hoosier," she said. "With valuing it as a Midwestern voice.
"A certain voice comes out of the Midwest," she continued. "I became comfortable with my own voice and my own experience. There was a power in the authentic voice. There are amazing stories that come out right where you come from."
Newcomer shares this voice teaching workshops all over the country in creative writing and songwriting and on vocation. The last she defines as "what it is that you love."
"We are born to love what we love," said Newcomer, who met her husband, now an entertainment lawyer, when he was the lead member of a "fun wacky band" named The Dorkestra. Their daughter, 25, is a teacher and a dancer and "cooler than I will ever hope to be," her mother said.
"We are born with things that we are always attracted to and have an affinity for but don't know why," she said. "We can learn to do a lot of things well but the most powerful contributions ... the most potent acts of activism ... come out of what we love the most."
Over the years, "I have moved toward the idea of clarity, the idea of elegance, the idea of peeling back the layers to the true story," Newcomer said. "There is nothing more powerful than a true statement."