Carrie Newcomer: A Great Wild Mercy

The intersection of a rainy day, an umbrella, and a prayer, a glimpse of swift passing fox in the autumn woods, what to do with a sleepless night, memory of a mother’s ideas on what would heal a bee sting, walking into the night after gathering for a potluck dinner...

These are several of the ideas Indiana based singer and songwriter Carrie Newcomer drew on for the stories she tells in her songs on her album A Great Wild Mercy.

“There’s news of the world and news of the heart” Carrie Newcomer sings as one of the lines in the title track.

Newcomer has been making music at the intersection of those two ideas for a good while now. A Great Wild Mercy is her twentieth album.

“I think songwriters each have certain ideas, certain themes they return to,” Newcomer says.

One of Newcomer’s themes is seeing the sacred in the everyday, the depths beyond the surface.

That has, among other things, resulted in a body of work which finds big ideas -- community, hope, grief, the lessons and uncertainties of parenthood, of love, of change, what to do with anger, and many other facets of life, grounded in vivid detail and image.

That has been true across the albums of Newcomer’s work. It is a practice and a style in which her work has evolved, too, both musically and lyrically.

In A Great Wild Mercy, for example, in addition to her own voice and guitar and the work of her frequent musical collaborator pianist and arranger Gary Walters, Newcomer is joined by artists on violin, percussion, cello, harmony vocal, bass, and mandolin.

If you are new to Newcomer’s music, you may be drawn first by her voice -- she has one of the best alto voices around in any style of music -- the way she uses her voice in service f music and story, and the thought provoking stories she tells

There’s much more.

A co-write with John McCutcheon offers a lively melody framing images and ideas inviting you to think about what going back to basics and/or starting over means.

Singing in the Dark took a spark from experiences Newcomer had when attending early morning service at the Abbey of Gethsemani where Catholic theologian and writer Thomas Merton spent part of his life.

Newcomer is a Quaker. “My faith is part of my life,” she says, “so it comes through in my music. Though a faith based record label wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole,” she adds, laughing.

At times Newcomer’s music invites you to laugh, or to dance. At other times she invites you to think of hard circumstances, to consider choices, to think about memories. And to take a walk through a woods at evening, seeing what you may find on that quiet path.

Newcomer’s songs are invitations to reflection, to ask questions, to consider connections.

Give them time and thought. You will be well rewarded.

You may also wish to explore
Carrie Newcomer has a Substack called A Gathering of Spirits.
She has also published several books of poetry and essays. We had a conversation about her writing process for that sort of work
Another album by Carrie Newcomer
Carrie was invited to take her music to India...
At the turning of the year: 5 songs including one from Carrie.

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