The Beginning

The violin has one of the saddest voices of traditional music. Its fluid lines can be mournfully elegant in a classical context, and even the liveliest fiddle tune usually has an undercurrent of melancholy. On Jag Star's debut CD, The Beginning, Erin Tipton's exquisite violin combines with Sarah Lewis' soaring vocals to add a lush, moody texture to otherwise competent folk-rock, rescuing a collection of predictable, somewhat maudlin, love songs.

In a Metro Pulse interview last fall, Tipton said Jag Star's music "is in a class of its own...What do you call it?" Well, it actually has plenty of precedents: the Dave Matthews Band, Rusted Root, Tori Amos, the Lilith Fair circuit—it's no wonder that the band has developed a considerable following in a college town. So the band's originality is not really its most striking feature. Nor are Lewis' lyrics, which tend toward break-up songs, a noteworthy element of the disc. "You know you've made a brave mistake/I'm letting go just for my sake," Lewis sings on the gloomy opening track, "Gone Again."

But The Beginning is a well-produced, promising release that demonstrates plenty of potential and even offers rewards of its own. Lewis' strong voice, used like an additional musical instrument, makes the weak lyrics almost an afterthought; her timbre and range give the clichés a surprising weight and add to the dark atmosphere of the disc.

The rest of the band—Lewis' husband, J. Lewis, on guitar, bassist Kenner Rawdon, and drummer Rafael Harris—adeptly handles the support chores, offering nimble underpinnings of jangly folk-rock to the disc.

It's the instrumental "Siberia" that highlights both the strengths and the shortcomings of the band's songwriting. Beginning with a staccato, Eastern European-tinged martial rhythm, the song shifts to a slower, epic sweep, with Tipton's violin swirling above crunchy electric guitar. Then, abruptly, a third refrain of rock-guitar riffing starts. After that, the same sequence is repeated, then the end. It's a collection of good riffs and disparate elements that fit well together, but it's not much of a song.

As a record of where Jag Star stands after only a few months together, The Beginning is an interesting document. Fans of the band will appreciate its clean, professional production and will probably enjoy hearing the songs they've heard live, which they can do at the CD release party at the Bijou on March 31. Jag Star, however, hasn't quite pulled off what they seem to be trying to do. But it might be fun to watch them try.