The Storytellers (Part X) . . .

Carolyn Carreiro (c. 1975)

When you write a song you need an acoustic guitar, a dreadnought, to compose it.

— Carolyn Carreiro

Carolyn’s old Guild Guitar. (Credit Keith Carreiro 2016.)

The most beautiful singer I have ever known is Carolyn Carreiro. I make this claim not only as her husband, but as her most ardent fan. I have known her since 1988 when I first heard her play at The New England Inn, which is located just outside of North Conway in Intervale, New Hampshire.

Please allow me to share some of her artistic background with you.

When she was about seven–years–old, and living in southern California, her dad got her, what she describes as “a crummy guitar.”

“I tried playing it and figuring it out. I loved the sound of it even the way it was. I started teaching myself how to play because I wanted to learn it so badly.”

She fell in love with the sound so much that she started writing her own music, which she continues doing to this day.

Carolyn in California. (Credit Susan Caspi, c. 1968.)

At ten, when she was living in Simi Valley, California (located in the southeastern part of Ventura County), she started playing an electric guitar with an amp. She became proficient enough in playing it that she could also begin accompanying herself in singing as well. When her step–dad and mom had parties at their home and hired musicians to play for these events, she was encouraged and invited to play and sing along with them.

Even though she had a lot of responsibilities at that time and it was tough to practice her music, she taught herself the basic fundamentals of her craft.

At fifteen, she met one of her best friends, Susan Caspi. Carolyn started playing Susan’s classical guitar, which was a Goya. As Susan also had another guitar they would play duets together.

When asked who influenced her the most musically, she says, “Dylan has a very powerful impact on my playing and singing. Some of my favorite songs of his, for example, are ‘Shelter from the Storm’ (1974), and ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ (1965). I also love the music of Joni Mitchell and Carol King, especially her album Tapestry (1971), as well as that of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.”

 

Living in Westerly, Connecticut in her early twenties, she obtained a Guild D25 that was built, literally, right next door to her in the Guild factory. She began her folk singing and writing in earnest.

In 1975, she worked as a bartender at Happy Hollidays Restaurant, which was owned by Billy Holliday. Tommy Simmons was the house musician. He played piano and sang a wide variety of music. Occasionally, she would sing along with him.

“We became good friends. He encouraged me to sing. He taught me how to play the blues.”

Her singing became so proficient that it won her a spot as the lead singer for a popular northern New England band named Hot Wax. They would play to standing room only crowds who listened to their popular renditions of disco and R&B music. She toured with them in 1978 and 1979.

One of Carolyn’s pastels. (Credit Keith Carreiro, 2005.)

When Carolyn moved to Bartlett, New Hampshire, she had to set music temporarily off to the side.

She eventually started a sign business, Bear Mountain Signs, and hired Lucien Charette to help her. The sign business became quite successful because of the level of talent both of them demonstrated. Between the two of them, they made many of the signs that graced the local businesses in their surrounding communities. She also was raising three children, Chelsea, Sage and Shane.

She still made time for her music.

Fast forward to 1988

One of my best friends at the time, pianist Dick Tilton, had been talking to me for a year about Carolyn. He was convinced that she and I had a lot in common. He kept encouraging me to go to the Tavern at The New England Inn where local musicians in the area would get together once a week and play their music. Carolyn, Peter White, Bob Rutherford, Rod MacKenzie, and Kevin Dolan were some of the musicians who gathered there.

Carolyn singing in western Pennsylvania. (Credit Keith Carreiro c. 2000.)

I kept putting off going to see her; however, I finally tamped down my fear of rejection one evening and drove from my home in Sweden, Maine to Intervale. I missed the performances, but I was in time for seeing everyone gathered together afterwards in the Tavern.

Dickie saw me when I entered the room and came over to greet me.

“Ready to meet Carolyn?” he asked me with a smile.

“Point her out to me, please,” I said.

“She’s sitting down at the bar to the right of us.”

My eyes scanned over to where he indicated. There were a lot of people present, especially on the right side of the bar.

“She’s the fair–haired one,” he told me.

Being so apprehensive, I didn’t have a clue to what he was saying.

He laughed, “She’s the one with the long blonde hair.”

I looked more closely, and there she was . . .

My God, she’s beautiful!

See, even then I knew she was exceptional.

Carolyn in Sedona, Arizona. (Credit Keith Carreiro 1995.)

I didn’t move. I was rooted to the spot where I was standing. Had my friend not held me by the elbow and led me over to meet her, I probably would still be standing there today gaping in the direction where she had been at the bar.

My fears were just getting started. Now that I had overcome getting there to see her, I was going to meet her within seconds. I had no idea what to say. I was useless. It’s terrifying when you are about to meet the woman of your dreams, and you have lost your ability to think, speak, and act normal. Hell, I knew I was doomed because there was no way I was feeling cool, suave, charming, perhaps even engaging. The state I was in can only be described as one in which I was deeply in shock. No, I did not hear any bells ringing. I did feel as though somebody hit me with a fourteen pound sledge hammer, however.

Mind you, I remain in this state to this day. Here’s partially why. Carolyn is one of the best rhythm guitarists I have ever heard play. She’s rock solid in laying down the beat and meter of a song. It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s a light jazz tune, a standard composition from the 30s to the 50s, a 12–bar blues piece, a folk ballad, or a classic rock ‘n’ roll song, she’s got it solidly pieced out for you. Same goes for reggae, soul, R&B, gospel and country & western.

Fingerpicking, or just with a pick alone, her right hand technique is excellent. She can hear a song once and repeat it without error the first or second time around.

Her singing—is magical. Annie Lennox and Tracy Chapman, have a voice range similar to Carolyn’s. Yet, Carolyn has this alto vocal coloration that can be best described as experiencing a cool breeze on the hottest day in the summer, as well as a warm caress in the coldest day of the winter. There is a space to it, a pliability that stretches one’s sense of wonder upon hearing it. Her enunciation is spot on, and her phrasing a lyric to the demands of the song structure itself, is flawless.

She had the gumption to encourage me to accompany her on the guitar. From 1989 until now, I have had the honor of backing her music, playing rhythm and lead. Without her, I would never had touched the guitar again. We played throughout the country: New England, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania and a bit here in Massachusetts.

One of our favorite venues was hosting an open mike night at the former Café Zum Zums. Located in Settlers Green in North Conway, New Hampshire, it was owned by Bob and Jan Balzotti. Every Monday night, despite the weather, and from 1989 to 1991, we were privileged to hear many of the area’s musicians, poets and storytellers. Mountain poet Tom Diegoli, Dickie Tilton, Kevin Dolan, Tom Dean, jazz guitarist Mark Jodice and others (whose names I cannot recall at the moment) shared their passion for their art with a packed house. It became such a popular event, artists from other parts of New England would appear and ask to perform.

Keith and Carolyn Carreiro. (Credit Bill Palcich, 1994.)

When we were at the height of playing our music together, we would perform four to six gigs a week. I always wanted to play the guitar in a freer way. Classical can be very confining. Arduous in its demands, it became too impossible for me to play it, especially with the motor coordination and technical demands it asks from the guitarist.

My wife gave me the gift of music such that my most beautiful and sublime moments of my life were in playing the guitar with her. We have spent hundreds of hours together playing music to all kinds of audiences. I have been able to play lead guitar, something I always dreamed about doing and thought would just remain a dream. There is nothing finer than being with your soul mate and letting the music pour out of you into the presence of an audience.

We developed the following routine. I was the roadie, stage hand and technician (include manager, too). I loved driving to the gigs, checking out where we were going to play and then configuring and setting up the sound system and the instruments to get the best acoustical reverberation in the space where we were to perform. Equally so, I loved tearing it all down and packing it up back into the van.

I would do the initial tuning of the instruments and the final sound check. Carolyn would begin by tuning her guitar and then we would check the manner in which the instruments were getting along with one another. Then she would start singing. To ease the amount of time she was using her voice, we developed a “patter” together, similar to the way Sonny and Cher talked with one another between songs, or even the manner in which the Smother’s brothers would kid one another.

Cover Photo to “The Wishing Stone”. Taken at Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona, Arizona. (Credit Bill Palcich 1994.)

I loved playing the guitar so much, that when our break came, I continued playing, talking with the audience and inviting any musicians or singers to come up to the stage and play. Often, when Carolyn returned to start the next set, the guest musicians would remain and play along. We met some wonderful musicians that way.

The best musician to play with us, and our favorite, was Jeff Faust, now of Charlottesville, Virginia. He played the meanest harmonica I’ve ever heard. Jamming with him was always a privilege. His playing added a wonderful accompaniment to our music.

The best singer, and our favorite as well, was Dodge Embry. His singing of Pink Floyd‘s “Time” became something people would hope to hear whenever he sat in with us. His rendition of any of Otis Redding‘s (1941–1967) work was uncanny because he could sing as well as Otis, especially when it came to soul and R&B.

Getting into the very pores and interstitial structure of a song itself, pushing the technique out of the way, even finding the technique to trace the arc of a song’s story, is a wild achievement to experience. But, when you can disappear into it and explore the very fabric of music within the realm of the chordal structure, meter and interaction between guitars, voice and the message of the lyrics . . . well, it’s like making love, riding a hurricane, sailing downwind in a strong breeze.

Carolyn playing her new Guild guitar. (Credit Keith Carreiro 2015.)

She is, bar none, one of the finest storytellers I have ever known. When we played our music together, I never wanted the performance to be over. It was like being in heaven with my best friend, lover, companion and wife. Going through these times with her, I know that we went through the doors of heaven and let its light out for others to see. Makes me understand I can still be an artist. 

Pretty tough to top that . . .

Related Links:

For a sample of our music, please check this YouTube clip out that is listed below; or, click on the hypertext title of the song, “City Fever” below:

Carolyn Carreiro and Keith Carreiro. “City Fever.” By Carolyn Carreiro. Youtube. YouTube, LLC. 22 February, 2015.

The video is made by Michael Snyder; all moving images and stills are his own. The song and lyrics are created by Carolyn Carreiro.

If you like what you hear on YouTube, go to the link below to listen to the music on our album The Wishing Stone (1994):

< https://soundcloud.com/search?q=Carolyn%20Carreiro >.

I am recommending the following listed link, especially for beginning guitarists who want to play the acoustic guitar, and/or for those who wish to have more comprehensive information about the great guitars made at Guild:

https://beginnerguitarhq.com/best-guild-acoustic-guitar/

Peeke, Dan. “Best Guild Acoustic Guitar.” Beginner Guitar HQ, 29 Sept. 2019, beginnerguitarhq.com/best-guild-acoustic-guitar/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2020.

Works Cited:

Carreiro, Carolyn, and Keith Carreiro. “City Fever.” 1990. The Wishing Stone. Blackboard Productions, Flagstaff, AZ, 1994. CD.

Dylan, Bob. “Like a Rolling Stone.” By Bob Dylan. Rec. 15-17 June 1965. Columbia, 20 July 1965. LP.

Dylan, Bob. “Shelter from the Storm.” By Bob Dylan. Rec. 17 September 1974. Blood on the Tracks. Columbia, January 1975. LP.

Pink Floyd. “Time.”  By Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright. The Dark Side of the Moon. Rec. June 1972 – January 1973. Abbey Road Studios, 1 March 1973. LP.

King, Carole. Tapestry. Rec. January 1971. Ode, 10 February 1971. LP.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Except for the album, The Wishing Stone, I have no material connection to the brands, products or services that I have mentioned here. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

© 13 April 2016 by A. Keith Carreiro