Singer has roots in folk music

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, September 27, 2006

For a musician, the release of a new CD is very much like giving birth. Creating the album is a labor of love, with plenty of anxious moments and hand holding along the way. But in the end, if all goes well, you have something wonderful to show for all the months of waiting.

And it’s always worth celebrating.

Seattle musician Eva Tree comes to Bainbridge Island Sept. 30 to celebrate the birth of her second “baby,” a CD entitled “Sail Away.”

Tree’s appearance at Island Center Hall is one of several concerts she is giving in the Northwest to mark the CD’s release.

It has been getting rave reviews so far, including this praise from a fellow musician, Christie Aitken: “As I listened, the stories wove their silken threads around me. The lyrics are soul-searching, honest and sung with true conviction, while the music’s varied styles and instrumentation captivate the listener right up to the last satisfying number. Let Eva’s luscious voice envelop you and sweep you away to a world where heaven meets earth.”

Tree now calls Seattle home, but she grew up in a “world where heaven meets the earth,” the Kootenay Mountains in British Columbia.

Her parents were part of a “raggle-taggle community of artistic hippie-gypsies,” according to her background information, and their humble home had neither electricity nor indoor plumbing.

What they lacked in modern amenities they more than made up for in creativity. Her father, Blake Parker, is a poet who inspired Tree in her songwriting career. The songs on “Sail Away” were written to blend with a radio/video script written by her father, “The Princess and the Kid.”

Tree said, “By immersing myself in Blake’s poetic and fantastical narrative, I found a voice for new and unique characters. The project was incredibly liberating and enabled me to really sing the songs and make them my own in a way I had not before.”

Tree backs her natural gift for music with a performance arts degree from Selkirk College of Music in B.C. in 1994. Since then she has toured the United States and Canada extensively. She has shared the stage with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Jim Page and the Total Experience Gospel Choir.

She was a featured contender at the 2003 Maryhill Singer-Songwriter Competition and in Seattle hosted the singer-songwriter showcase at the Hopvine Pub for several years.

Tree’s rootsy singing and folksy playing has been likened to Beth Orton or a young Natalie Merchant.

Her acoustic guitar playing is backed up by Bill Dickerson on guitar, Alicia Healey on bass, Sean Bendickson on drums and Dan Tyack on steel guitar and dobro.

In addition to her band she will be joined at the Island Center Hall concert by Canadian singer/songwriter Jude Davison, the producer of “Sail Away.”

Eva Tree performs 8 p.m. Sept. 30 at Island Center Hall, 8395 Fletcher Bay Rd., Bainbridge Island. Admission is $10 at the door. And is with any new arrival, the CD will be celebrated with cake, ice cream and punch.