JfliiSl
2 , 2002
MUSIC
..................... ▼......................
B
efore Alanis Morissette and Tori
Amos and a host of other
no-pain-no-gain song
sirens, there was Tamaras.
Bom in Los Angeles 30-
odd years ago, this talented
singer/songwriter was raised
by hippie parents, and one
might guess at some of her
influences—Janis Joplin and
Jefferson Airplane with
some Pete Seeger
and David Bowie
thrown in for gcxxi
measure. Add a lit
tle Heart and
Melissa Etheridge,
and you might
begin to sense
where this petite
musical power
house gets her
drama, drive and,
last hut not least,
plain old-fashioned
charisma.
Tamaras’ musi
cal ideals hearken
hack to that 7 0 s
childhood. “I’ve
got this voice that
could reach hun
dreds and thou
sands of people,"
she says. “T h at’s why there’s a lot o f story
telling and war protests, which is what we
should he doing now.”
One thing is certain: To meet Tamaras, the
woman and musician, is to know her, and to
listen to her perform is to hear her heartbeat.
And the girl’s heart pounds to the heat of a dif
ferent drummer.
Start with Janis Joplin.
Add Pete Seeger and
David Bowie. Mix well.
Meet Tamaras.
©
UTAH STARZZ
Tuesday, August 6th • 7:00 pm * Rose Garden
©
PHOENIX MERCURY
Sunday, August 11th • 7:00 pm • Rose Garden
Lesbian rock ’ll’ roller Tamaras
tempts Portlanders this month
O
ver pints at the Egyptian Club, Tamaras
reveals how she eschewed her love-child
rearing and joined the Anny at 17 (lying
about hen age). After bcxit camp she was a
communications techie— the one responsible
for making certain that when an officer yelled,
“Fire!” into the headset, the soldier down the
line wielding the cannon had the muzzle point
ed in the right direction.
Txlay, it’s Tamaras’ music that yells “Fire!”
In “Subside” she sings, “Know you can choose
your life/And all this complication will suh-
sidc/And I’ll meet you there in the light/We’ll
breathe clean air under new skies."
When Cpl. Tamaras wasn’t rigging commu
nications lines, she was practicing guitar and
walking the “don’t ask, don’t tell” tightrope.
Perhaps this was when the youthful siren began
to envision lyrics like, “ If everything was
safe/Then what would make us brave F
Something very clear emerges about the
rock ’n’ roll Tamaras before we’ve drained our
second brew. Here is an artist in whom there is
no guile. What you see is what you get.
And what do you see? A small, dark-haired
woman with the hope of a teen-ager in her
eyes— but not from a lack of worldly experi
ence. Rather, from the admirable quality of
character to tread through life’s shallows and
narrows and retain a kind of youthful exuber
ance— a tough and infectious idealism equally
feared and admired. Who hut a musician with
the true heart of a traveling troubadour could
feel equally at home playing for rustic audi
ences in southern Oregon bars, yuppies at Star-
bucks and sisters at the Egyptian?
One secret to the appeal is her superlative
musicianship; she’s a whiz on the guitar. Add to
this a brassy, bluesy voice that can belt with
the best of them hut also possesses a soft side
that can be heard in songs such as “Dust Bowl”
by
R ach el L ane
from her latest CD, Simple Is So Hard. In it
Tamaras deftly traverses the issues of how
human desire and living nature are intimately
entwined:
Before the nver disappeared
And all the beautiful trees systematically cleared
Yellow mustard hills would endlessly wind
Us through the open lands to the grapevine.
But now this dust bowl blows the stench miles
across
From the cattle rancher's money-making
holocaust.
Come early and enjoy pre-game festivities
including music, clowns Mad Science & more!
,
A
t home in Hollywood, Calif., Tamaras often
performs with members of her three-piece
hand. In her last Saturday night concert at
the Egyptian, it was all about her, though— an
acoustic guitar and a voice that is at once hard
and soft, hidden and revealing. Add to this her
contagious smile, the kind of glad expression
that says, “Here I am, doing the only thing I
want to do, giving you all that I’ve got."
Listeners new to the music are well advised
to listen both to her solo acoustic and to her
hand-accompanied work. While the self-same
thread of rock ’n’ roll runs through each, they
each possess unique qualities all their own.
One critic characterizes Tamaras’ ensemble
work as "hard rock psychedelic.” Another calls
it “frenetic punk to melodic rock and even folk
rock.”
Mostly, though, she’s a performer with the
admirable ability to match her venues with just
the right style. At coffeehouses and cafes, she is
immediate and personable; on stage before
large audiences, she ups the intensity and
matches the potency of her electronics with
equally powerful vocal and instrumental drama.
In a world often driven by hype and illusion,
the title of Tamaras’ latest recording is apropos.
But don’t expect simplicity from this woman’s
songs or performances. Her lyrics tackle issues
both simple and complex, and her musical
styles are varied and accomplished. JF1
T a m a r a s plays the Ash Street Saloon, 225 S.W.
Ash St., at 9 p.m. Aug. 7. Admission is $6. She
plays a free concert 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at the
Egyptian Club, 3701 S.E. Division St. Visit the
singer at www.tamarasrocks.com.
I The Rove Garden 1« accessible to people
/ with disabilities For Accessible Seating,
call . -
- > n b a
• /TDD SO)-232 »OI Á
W
o m en in th e
W
oods
2002
A ugust 22-25
• Join with 100-*- lesbians for a magical women-only week
Central Oregon, 2 hours drive from Portland • X flz v hea
meals daily • Hotsprii
water
trails
on anymng 2 or more people want to talk
craftswomen space • amazing talent show •
per person
4days/3
3 days/2 nights $185 per person
efrumming circle • dancing
»
»
»
Registration deadline is August 1, 2002.
Fees must be paid in full at that time.
Call 503-284-0722 for registration form.