|
In an interview I recently asked Cris, "In the twenty plus years that you have been writing and performing, you have worked with a number of other women musicians such as Meg Christian, Holly Near, and Margi Adam, all important components of the 'women's music' scene. Would you say any one musician with whom you have worked has been more influential than the others?" She replied, " I have worked with many musicians in my many years as a performer, some well-known (Bonnie Raitt), and some not. Meg Christian, I have to say, made a songwriter out of me, in that she was the first musician to perform my work, making those songs into a language, a vocabulary for many women, in particular, who were all going through massive cultural change in the '70's and into the '80's., My mentor, Alfred Brown, a violist in NY, forever altered my life, teaching me courage and honesty and intent. Then, of course there is that one teacher, in my case, Miss Phyllis Eide, who grasped my talent with both hands, and played for me while I learned my craft, beginning at 16."
Cris Williamson was born in Deadwood, South Dakota and raised in the Wyoming and Colorado mountains without running water or electricity. Perhaps this early environment helps explain why so much of her music seems connected to the land, to balance and harmony. I asked her about these characteristics found in her music, mentioning that Native American elements often crop up as well, especially in some of her earlier work such at Prairie Fire. In response she explained, "Harmony and Balance seem to me to be the goal of all living things, if we can call it a goal. Elemental language--earth, air, fire, and water--seem to me to be a universal Earth language, and therefore, anyone living on this Planet can potentially grasp your meaning."
And so it is that although Williamson's music has not been widely recognized in the mainstream market, her messages are often universal in nature. She writes and sings about situations that cross the lines of age, gender, and sexual preference. Her lyrics deal with feelings everyone experiences-- sorrow, loneliness, hope, joy, and love. Her material is equally far-reaching, including such subjects as the flight of the Nez Perce and how history might have been different if Columbus had not opened the New World to others. With regard to why her music has remained somewhat obscure, Williamson says, "I don't always know why my fate has been to remain in a kind of obscurity, a canyon which is hidden from ordinary sight, but can be found by any questing being. Beyond the fact that radio and television and media in general are all fashion-driven, I often think I am designed in a specialized way, to be discovered by people making a journey of sorts." She adds, "I often wish for more media access so that the music could reach and help more people than it can by being hand-carried."
|
|
