Deb Talan

The Boston Herald, Monday, June 23, 2003
The Edge: Entertainment • Arts • Life • Style

Deb Talan's do-it-yourself Success
By Daniel Gewertz

Deb Talan seems like the rare folk-pop singer who would have record label executives reaching for their checkbooks:
• Her music is both fresh and familiar. She has been widely compared to Shawn Colvin and, vocally, the tag fits snugly.
• She recently has won a whole slew of songwriter contests, and her songs have been heard on TV and at the movies.
• And, no small matter, the fair haired Talan is as beautiful as anyone plying her musical wared on today's coffeehouse circuit. Even better, her all-American looks aren't intimidating. Boys and girls like her equally.

Yet, so far, Talan is a totally D. I. Y. (Do It Yourself) folk babe. Her new album, "A Bird Flies Out," is not only self-produced and manufactured, it was recorded mostly in the home studio Talan shares with her boyfriend, singer-songwriter Steve Tannen, in Northampton.

Even more audacious, Talan and Tannen are producing her CD-release concert at the Somerville Theatre on Friday without the help of any promoter.

"We rented the theater, hired the crew and did publicity. Our friends are postering the city. We wanted to have th control," Talan said. "It's an experiment."

Have record labels been immune to Talan's charms? Not completely. "But it's not where I'm putting my energies now," she said. "In the course of the life of this record, I'd like to find a label. But for now, I want to get it out of the gate and hope more buzz gets generated.

"The framework of this industry is in flux. Steve and I are functioning as our own small label now, so when I look for a label, I'd want a bigger one. Yet a really big label isn't that appealing, because I've gotten a degree of control. And I really like it," she said.

Talan was born in Western Massachusetts, and attended Brown University before heading out to Oregon, where she was part of a Portland band, Hummingfish, for six years.

Arriving in Cambridge five years ago, she soon got a weekly Monday evening gig at Starbucks in Harvard Square, performing for casual listeners and lots of caffeine addicts waiting in line.

"I did it for a year and a half. I think if it as my boot camp. I was having trouble getting gigs at the time, and it was a really important thing to do," she said.

Since that time, Talan's career has progressed in remarkably steady fashion. While she graduated from opening act to headlining status at coffeehouses and clubs, Talan's music has been heard on the WB ("Dawson's Creek" "Felicity") and under the closing credits of the popular indie film "Lovely and Amazing." Her song "Tell Your Story Walking," a highlight of the new album, was a winner of the "Songs Inspired by Literature Songwriting Competition," appearing on a benefit album alongside songs by Bruce Springsteen and Suzanne Vega.

The new CD has unusually bright textures and lively dynamics for such introspective material. They're basically relationship songs, tackling the inner progress an emotional missteps of life. Though the lyrics aren't linear, they aren't frustratingly mysterious either.

Though she appears to be in her 20s, Talan is 35, a fact she mentions with charming hesitation. "The industry wisdom is: Keep your age nebulous. The fear is that young people won't buy your records if they're not your age," she said.

She's both shy about the age question and proud of her years. "It takes time to develop your craft, and I feel I'm getting better with age," she said.

Talan is. "A Bird Flies Out" is a huge step beyond her previous studio album, "Something Burning."

And does she feel she fits that Shawn Colvin mold? "I haven't fit myself into a mold. But I'm not a trailblazer. Others did the work to make room for me," she said.