THE HANDSOME FAMILY embark on yet another European Tour to promote their acclaimed fifth album "Twilight" at the end of March 2002, but before they set off, RENNIE SPARKS talks to TIM PEACOCK about New Mexico, phobias, keeping her husband Brett in check and a whole lot more…
The most consistently excellent of all the new breed of Country ‘n’ Folk- imbibing Americana flame-keepers, Albuquerque’s HANDSOME FAMILY’s husband and wife team BRETT SPARKS (guitar/ vocals, bi-polar, plaid – shirted and of Texan origin) and RENNIE SPARKS (bass/ vocals/ lyrics/ autoharp, from New York with Eastern European Jewish roots) have now released five increasingly superb albums, culminating with "Twilight", our album of 2001 at www.whisperinandhollerin.com.
The last magnum opus was the first made by the ultra-talented duo since upping sticks to New Mexico from their previous Chicago base. The open spaces and vivid landscape have clearly fired Rennie’s creativity.
"There’s beautiful skies here," she enthuses. "Lots of strange light that turns everything purple and orange at the end of the day. Also a great sense of history – rare for the USA – but much of the place is as it was in the 1600s when the Spanish came and started trying to make Christians out of the natives."
Not surprisingly, the rich landscape has informed many of the songs on "Twilight", many of which – like "Birds You Cannot See" and the exquisitely sad "Passenger Pigeons" – feature vivid images from nature’s cycles. Typically, death is never far away, but as Rennie suggests, humour is always present too.
"Well, things are always funny and sad to me," she says, "kinda bittersweet." There again, when referring to songs like the unintentionally hilarious "So Long" (basically a litany of ways various pets have died in the past) she makes the point:
"I’m not writing from my diary, though I’m sure all these incidents have happened to someone. I suspect it was a kitten in the hole," she suggests when I ask what it was "in the hole I bricked over" in "So Long". So now we know!
I ask Rennie about the tangible aspects of nature in New Mexico, thinking back to the title track of the previous album, "In The Air," which concerns the fear of crossing bridges.
"I have a bug phobia that is a problem out here as many normal insects grow to double or triple their size in the desert," divulges Rennie. I’m already thinking about White Sands and the legacy of Mr.Oppenheimer’s missile testing days, when she continues.
"So many bombs have exploded," says Rennie, "though sometimes when a bug gets to a certain size, I find it crosses over into the cute range of mice and hamsters."
On a grander scale, several tunes on "Twilight" have A "ZELIG" –style quality, uncannily capable of keying into current events. The gentle, piano-led "There Is A Sound" seems especially eerie post-September 11th, with its’ lyrical references to falling planes.
"We’ve not had flak for it, no," insists Rennie. "I think people can understand the song a little better. Now everyone is afraid to fly."
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And maybe drive, if the suicidal lyrics to "The Snow White Diner" are anything to go by? However, Rennie and I get into the musical aspects of this song. I wonder if THE HANDSOME FAMILY will explore more songs away from any obvious Alt.Country touchstones, say with more keyboards?
"I don’t know," confesses Rennie. "We don’ really plan ahead with that sort of thing, we just write a song and then see how we can make it sound best. Sometimes that means keyboards, sometimes banjo."
Before our conversation winds down, Rennie and I discuss the past and the future. Having been struck by a previous article in UNCUT where Rennie spoke of her Eastern European ancestry, she now tells me more.
"I think I have the same sense of humour as a lot of other Jews like Franz Kafka," she says.
"My family came from towns that don’t exist anymore, so there really isn’t a homeland, just a sense of a lot of people who died and were not remembered. I have a great attraction to Eastern European art and writing, but when I think of "The Painted Bird" by JERZY KOSINSKI, I know what my fate would have been had my family not fled."
Happily, Rennie has a far more positive future, as herself and Brett – hopefully with Brett’s brother Darryl guesting on drums – are due to wow us again with another lengthy European Tour beginning in late March. There’s more new music planned too: not least a self-financed CD of Cover Versions and a further Live CD.
"The covers CD is called "Smothered And Covered," Rennie continues. "It has a lot of different tunes, like "SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN", "TRAIL OF TIME", "I HEAR A SWEET VOICE CALLING", "KNOXVILLE GIRL", "BANKS OF THE OHIO"…as well as some original songs that were laying around at home."
Warming to the subject, she continues: "The live CD features the story of "The Magic Balls" that I thought were messages from angels, but turned out to be pieces of cat litter."
Frankly, it’s difficult to top this, but before Rennie goes, I can’t resist asking her whether she ropes Brett into household chores at their new "Dude Ranch" in New Mexico?
"I hose his cage down once a week and he gets three feedings a day," laughs Rennie. "Doesn’t take all that much work. Sometimes he howls at night and I have to cover the cage with a tarp."
Of course, whether the cage will come on tour with them remains to be seen! In the meantime, don’t even think of missing THE HANDSOME FAMILY when they hit these shores shortly after you read this.
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