Adler & Hearne

Adler & Hearne
Live at Eddie’s Attic
Spring Hollow Records

The word “sweet” always comes to mind when Adler & Hearne perform, soon followed by the words “sense of humor.” Both of those descriptions fit Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne’s new CD, Live at Eddie’s Attic.

The acoustic CD is folk, bordering a couple of times on Appalachian. The harmonies are heartfelt; the playing is mostly simple and crisp. Like on many live albums, there are a few minor technical glitches, but not enough to intrude into the in-the-moment experience.

Lynn and Lindy founded one of the Upper East Side of Texas’ best listening rooms, Crossroads Coffeehouse and Music Company in Winnsboro, before passing it on to others so they could go on the road sharing their own music. One of their shows was at Eddie's Attic, which bills itself as the premier listening room in the Atlanta area and has hosted John Mayer, The Civil Wars, the Indigo Girls, John Gorka, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco, Ellis Paul, Patty Larkin, Malcolm Holcombe, Eric Taylor, Billy Joe Shaver, India.Arie, and more including, yes, Justin Bieber.

On 11 songs, Adler & Hearne carry listeners through love, heartbreak, social consciousness, two fairly unique takes on gospel, and more.

“The Egg’s Lament,” written by Hearne and sung without a hint of a smile by the duo, fits in with their desire to, like the egg, find their destiny: “Whatever I am, I’m still feeling stuck,” the sing. “Just one big push and I’ll have it made, been safe for too long, I’ve gotta get laid.”

Other highlights include “Put Me on the Stove (and call me done),” which finds the song’s protagonist wishing to be an onion in the stew that is Jesus, a raisin in Jesus’ dough, a catfish in Jesus’ frying pan, etc.; “Prayin’ for the Camel,” in which a man, taking the biblical proverb to heart, says he will pray on the day that he dies for the camel to squeeze on through; and the gently sung protest song “A Hundred Years from Now” which condemns ecological waste with the phrase “go ahead, pass the buck, burn the bridge, best of luck.”

The most Appalachian of the songs is “Stranger in the House,” which the couple wrote with Hal Greenwood: “I’m a stranger in the house of love, it’s a place I’ve been but I don’t belong.”

Which, listening to Lynn and Lindy together, is obviously not true.

– Tom Geddie
County Line Magazine - County Line Magazine - January 2012

By Michael Granberry / Reporter
mgranberry@dallasnews.com
5:14 pm on June 24, 2012 | Permalink

Duets done well are extraordinary musical creations. Duets showcase individual voices, but in their finest moments, they merge two voices that somehow create a third. The best examples include the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Tammy Wynette and George Jones.

Adler & Hearne is the duo of Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne, who grew up in Protestant homes where church music was a family calling. Adler became a budding gospel singer and songwriter, who wrote a song covered by Debby Boone. She also co-wrote the theme song for the PBS children’s series, Wishbone. And last year, as the only female finalist, she won the 23rd annual B.W. Stevenson Singer-Songwriter Memorial Competition at Poor David’s Pub.

Hearne traveled extensively with country legend Roy Clark, with whom he appeared on the TV comedy Hee Haw, on the Tonight Show and in the acoustic wonderland of Carnegie Hall. He’s also an impeccable songwriter who can play the daylights out of his battered, Willie Nelson-like guitar.

From 2005 to 2009, Adler & Hearne ran Crossroads Coffeehouse & Music Co. in Winnsboro in the Piney Woods, importing to their little corner of deep East Texas such talents as Jimmy LaFave, John Gorka, Ruthie Foster and Kinky Friedman.

Lucky for us, Adler & Hearne had dreams of their own. They recently released their third album, Live at Eddie’s Attic. Since 2009, they have toured extensively, from the East Coast to the West, from the Deep South to the Upper Midwest. Friday night, they arrived in Dallas, gracing Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse with three fast-moving hours of exquisite music. Making the show even more memorable was Kate Hearne, Lindy’s multi-talented daughter, a gifted guitar player and vocalist who opened the show, then added her own electric-guitar wizardry to Adler & Hearne’s set. During the warm-up portion, Kate got expert backing from talented bassist Garrett Paine Gridley, who at one point offered a terrific instrumental solo that drew a rousing ovation.

Adler & Hearne opened the main set with the moving ballad “River Wide, River Deep,” during which they solved the secret to a good duet, finding the elusive third voice that powered more than 20 songs with blissful harmonies. Hearne, who teaches guitar to aspiring students in Fort Worth, provided terrific string work with that battered instrument that added its own rare sound to the evening’s mix.

Adler & Hearne’s second song “Stranger in the House of Love” underscored the power of their ability to craft duets. But it also highlighted the distinction of each singer’s individual voice. Adler’s passionate lyric touches blend beautifully with Hearne’s mellow baritone.

Hearne has written many songs over the years with Hal Greenwood, one being a quirky gospel song titled “Put Me On the Stove” that contains the lines, “I’ll be the onion, you be the stew, put me on the stove and call me done.” Great to hear it Friday night. Hearne and Greenwood, who was part of the near-capacity crowd at Uncle Calvin’s, have collaborated on dozens of memorable tunes over the years.

The other remarkable aspect of the Adler-Hearne show was the duo’s range. They offer an eclectic mix that covers gospel, jazz, blues, singer-songwriter confessional tunes, even sweet moments of heavenly cabaret. Adler the singer-songwriter scored heavily with “Alarms,” which offers solace to anyone who can’t help letting a badly needed paycheck trump passion. This is an example of the power of her lyrics:

We muster up the will to do the things we must.

We hold our tears and leave our dreams to rust.

We count the hours. We make the list.

We cash the check. We wonder what we missed.

She worked a series of 9-to-5 jobs before being able to follow her dream, with Hearne by her side, and the joy they share comes through in every note of every song.

Humor also is an Adler & Hearne stron - Dallas Morning News

Feb. 10, 2009

Mix magazine readers who have been wondering what our former “Nashville Skyline” columnist Rick Clark is up to will find part of the answer in Lindy Hearne and Lynn Adler’s To the Heart. In addition to work for satellite radio and occasional gigs as a film-music supervisor, Clark continues to produce the kind of projects he has always championed in various outlets: authentic, soulful roots music that lives outside the country mainstream. Adler & Hearne are singer/songwriters whose poetic, harmonious songs fit beautifully within these airy, bluegrass-inspired arrangements. Clark expresses in the album liner notes his strong commitment to the quiet of To the Heart—rightly, he feels that this soft-spoken duo and the elegant roots band he assembled have no business fighting the CD-loudness wars. As a result, this album sounds refreshingly gentle and true.

Producer: Rick Clark. Engineer: Richard McLaurin. Recording studio: House of David, Nashville. Mastering: Andrew Mendelson/Georgetown Masters (Nashville).

Must Play: “River Wide, River Deep”

—Barbara Schultz

- Mix Magazine