The first time I saw Pamela Means, she was absorbed with her acoustic guitar in the dim back stage of Shank Hall, quietly working out a chord progression. She was ready to open for someone else's show (if memory serves). It was circa 1990, and Means was already making her name in Milwaukee's neo-folk-acoustic-whatever scene, flourishing on the fringes of rock clubs, bookshops and poetry readings.
Since leaving town in the mid-'90s, Means has toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, on her own and sharing stages with Ani DiFranco, Neil Young, Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Patty Larkin, Richie Havens, Janis Ian and Pete Seeger. She was on the cover of Curve magazine and was featured in the Da Capo Press book I Got Thunder:Black Women Songwriters & Their Craft, along with Odetta, Nina Simone, Chaka Khan, Angelique Kidjo and Shemekia Copeland.
With the release of her seventh indie CD, Precedent, comes another tour, including a swing through her old hometown. "I've expanded what I do by going deeper into the jazz I studied at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music," she says, speaking of her creative evolution since leaving Milwaukee.
The jazz influence is up front on "Amsterdam," a lovely slice of café jazz, complete with brushed drums, conjuring up a lazy day of demitasse by the canal and a ramble through the old port city. Much of Precedent works in the Joan Armatrading/Tracy Chapman vein of pointed lyrics set to forceful, strummed melodies. But the stark, descending chords of "New Orleans," an angry jab at government neglect in the wake of Katrina, wouldn't sound out of place in mood next to Led Zeppelin's take on "When the Levee Breaks." And in "Cold Ass M.F.," offered in two versions, slippery jazz walks with stuttering funk. Means also records a song by fellow Milwaukee expatriate Peter Mulvey, "On the Way Up."
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Precedent includes no less than three place songs, "Amsterdam," "New Orleans" and "California." Any significance to this? "Each geographical song came after visiting the place," she explains. "Each one addresses a different theme. 'California' is just a queer little love song, plus I think it's a rule for every songwriter to pen at least one California tune during their career.
"'Amsterdam' is my seminal jazz composition, and 'New Orleans' was written during the last administration," she continues. "It's a reflection of visiting the city, meeting survivors of Katrina and hearing terribly horrific stories. Even though I'm full of Obama-phoria, we still have work to do, and New Orleans is still one place that needs forefront attention."
Pamela Means performs May 16 at Hotch-A-Do.
