Look to the Moon by Patty & Craig
'Look to the Moon' by Patty & Craig
Milwaukee folk music is populated by multiple married couples. Among the most prolific are Patty Stevenson and Craig Siemsen abbreviated to their first names for their third album. The songs comprising Look to the Moon owe their genesis to a Facebook picture of the blood moon, thus inspiring Siemsen to pen some lunar-themed tunes; Stevenson eventually joined in the songwriting for what was originally planned to be a solo album her husband.
The resulting 11 numbers don't quite make up a concept album, nor does every song revolve around a theme involving Earth's rocky satellite. But the cumulative result is a set of compositions touching on the concerns of two thoughtful, caring people. Patty & Craig don't hurry; their songs have an organic quality about them that make them seem like they took just enough time with each one. One of the longest of the bunch, one from whom the lovebirds cribbed the title of a Creedence Revival hit, may be one of the gentlest of protest songs. The other offering to surpass the five-minute mark tells of a folkie attempting, however awkwardly, to become a rocker.
The Stevenson-Siemsen partnership proffers no such difficulties in their aesthetic identity. They sound perfectly comfortable in their own skins singing of love, hope and political issues. And if one of folk’s impetus is the building and affirmation of community, Patty & Craig embody those qualities here by their inclusion of musical collaborators, among them being another of the city's acoustic couples, Frogwater (John and Susan Nicholson), as well as Peter Roller, Marc Edelstein and percussionist Reggie Bordeaux. Apart from the earnest songwriting, the centerpiece of any Patty & Craig album is their harmony singing.
