Listen to Caroline Herrings “Fair and Tender Ladies”
OXFORD, Miss. – A class in Southern balladry at the
University of Mississippi helped inspire a successful
singer/songwriter who returns to Oxford for two
performances Feb. 28.
Caroline Herring, a Southern studies alumna known as a
pre-eminent storyteller of the Gothic South, is slated to
perform at Thacker Mountain Radio at Off Square Books at
5:30 p.m., followed by a show at Proud Larry’s (211 South
Lamar Blvd.) at 8 p.m. A co-founder of the radio show,
Herring is touring in support of her new album “Lantana,”
due out March 4.
She credits her time at UM’s Center for the Study of
Southern Culture for inspiration.
“My master’s in Southern studies greatly influenced my
songwriting,” Herring said. “My songs are mostly about
Southern people and Southern themes.”
Herring said her first real foray into Southern traditional
music styles began in a Southern studies class, taught by
Bill Ferris, former director of CSSC.
“I sang ‘Knoxville Girl,’ a murder ballad, and ‘Barbara
Allen,’ a famous folk ballad, as my special assignment for
the Southern balladry class and I haven’t turned back
since,” she said.
After making a name for herself in Mississippi, Herring
moved to Austin, Texas, where she released her critically
acclaimed debut album, “Twilight.” The album won her Best
New Artist at both the 2002 SXSW Austin Music Awards and
the Austin American Statesman. She soon released the
follow-up album “Wellspring.”
Touted as being intimate, powerful and honest, “Lantana”
features all original songs, except for two traditional
ballads, and is in many ways an artistic rebirth for
Herring. Her songs represent the experiences of women who
have not only faced the challenges of a childhood in the
rural South but also the complex experiences of adult
women.
Herring’s UM studies helped shape the themes of “Lantana.”
Her thesis topic “The Association of Southern Women for the
Prevention of Lynching” comes through in the song “Fair and
Tender Ladies,” about Montie Greer.
Craig Havighurst of The Tennessean in a review of Herring’s
work said: “Mississippi’s dense history and the shackles of
its past are vividly present in Herring’s songs. Characters
come of age knowing something’s not in tune with their soul
or conscience, but they can no more figure out where their
own vices of race, class, gender, religion and politics
came from than they can comprehend the roots of bigotry,
social disdain or codes that keep women from realizing
their potential.”
Reflecting on her time at Ole Miss, Herrin said, “I love
Oxford, I love the Southern studies program in particular,
and when I make my first $100 million, Drs. Abadie, Wilson
and Ownby know that I plan to dedicate a significant
portion to Southern studies student communal housing,”
Herring said.
For more information, go to
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south
or
http://www.carolineherring.com.
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