Violet and the Undercurrents- Three of the area’s leading female musicians have joined forces to create Violet and the Undercurrents. Led by singer-songwriter Violet Vonder Haar, the band also features Phylshawn Johnson and Ruth Acuff, gifted musicians all — the sum of the band’s playing somehow managing to exceed the brilliance of its individual parts. -Columbia Daily Tribune
The local singer-songwriter has played her winsome, thoughtful brand of folk in a variety of contexts and concerts. Born in Lupus, Vonder Haar’s deep connection to the area rings through in each word she sings and note she plays, yet there is a universality to the rich manner in which she explores themes of love, community and walking in the world. -Columbia Daily Tribune
“..reminds me of days spent in coffee houses listening to artists and songs with heartfelt messages..” -Pete Rodman – CD Baby Listener Review
“…[Violet's] guitar and lyrics, sung in an enchanting voice that reverberates with wisdom and soul, have captivated Columbians’ ears and hearts..” -Inside Columbia Magazine
Vonder Haar lights ‘The Way Home’ with radiant songwriting
Upon first utterance, the word home seems simple enough. It refers to someplace familiar. Someplace to come back to. Somewhere to rest your head. Yet, where a person calls home is wrapped up in more complicated concerns, the word ultimately raising questions of belonging and heritage and connectedness.
With a nuanced definition in mind, it’s fair to say Violet Vonder Haar’s music sounds like home. Much of the locally grown singer-songwriter’s latest album, “The Way Home,” feels simple and familiar enough. It’s a largely stripped-down, acoustic affair on which she traffics in warm, folk-rock tones. Yet, the album also finds Vonder Haar contemplating notions of home and belonging, sometimes by telling the story of her family, singing of sacrifices made and legacies bequeathed. At other moments, she focuses on questions of romantic entanglement and disentanglement. Vonder Haar’s music is often comforting, yet it also challenges the listener to come to terms with the truth that some corners of the place we call home are shadowy and haven’t been swept for a season.
While, at times, Vonder Haar’s music invites comparisons to the substantive melodic folk of Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman or even Mary Chapin Carpenter, perhaps the closest musical likeness can be found a bit closer to home. Given the ambling acoustic guitars and jazzy flourishes of the title cut and a consistent focus on crafting rhythmic, athletic instrumental passages, Vonder Haar casts herself as a musical cousin to fellow local songsmith Noah Earle.
Vonder Haar and a coterie of talented area musicians — including Phylshawn Johnson, Pete Szkolka and Kevin Hennessy — intermittently wander in and out of other styles, approaching pop-ballad territory on “Writing You” and relishing the chance to play a smoky slice of blues on “Back Stab,” one of the album’s strongest cuts. Vonder Haar’s positively soulful piano flirts with Szkolka’s searing yet understated electric guitar lines, the result evoking the sort of sound someone might expect to hear upon entering the haze of a low-lit, center-city club.
Perhaps the most pliant cut of all comes in the album’s latter third — “Our Musical” is a jazzy, jaunty number that finds Vonder Haar having fun, tossing phrases around with all the grace and style of a chanteuse circa the Roaring Twenties. Szkolka’s shimmering piano runs, Johnson’s swinging backbeat and the vocal support provided by the Stephens College Children’s School Choir bring added lightness of being to the tune. It’s delightful to hear Vonder Haar truly relish and enjoy a melody that requires her to embrace technically sound singing, yet do so in a way that sounds effortless. As the rest of the record proves, her voice is a beautiful one — but not necessarily in a conventional way. She utilizes an exquisite high register but is also unafraid to embrace the little idiosyncrasies in her delivery.
The album’s closing couplet — “Unconditional Love” and “Home” — represents two of Vonder Haar’s most complete compositions. The former benefits from the buoyant strum of an acoustic guitar, carried along as the tune’s through line. Familial harmonies provided by sister Tara frame a sturdy melody that suggests resolve and redemption. The latter simply contains the most clear example of Vonder Haar’s reliably radiant songwriting — here she fits a lovely, lilting melody to a simple but compelling backdrop. As the song progresses, the vocal blend of three Vonder Haar sisters — Violet, Tara and Hannah — brings a true sweetness to the song, a quality that finds its culmination in a practically fugal coda.
“The Way Home” is, for Vonder Haar, a path marked by facing the music about both the heartfelt and hurtful aspects of belonging, but it’s a rewarding journey and one that will cause listeners to think through their own definition of home.
-Aarik Danielsen, ajdanielsen@columbiatribune.com
