Teresa Storch Band: “Open Your Heart” (2024) CD Review

Teresa Storch is a singer and songwriter who was based in Boston for a while, and released a couple of solo albums, including Stream Of Concrete. She teamed up with Peter Lacis, who comes from the jam band scenes of New Jersey and Colorado, and the two have toured as a duo. Now based in Longmont, Colorado, they have a full band, and have released their first band album. Titled Open Your Heart, it features mostly original material, written either by Teresa Storch or Storch and Peter Lacis together. Teresa Storch plays acoustic and electric guitars, and Peter Lacis is on lead electric guitar and backing vocals. Chad E. Mathis is on bass, and Travis Moberg is on drums. Both Mathis and Moberg also provide backing vocals. Tony Dickinson joins them on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. There are also some other musicians joining the band on various tracks.

The album opens with a song titled “Things Will Get Better.” There are all sorts of things that might go through your head when you hear a title like that, so many things that need to get better. The first verse is about improving as a musician, but the chorus applies to whatever it is that you are working on or thinking of: “‘Cause things will get better/All that it takes is believing/It’s the first step to seeing it all the way/Things will get better/The more that you bet that things will get better/The better it gets.” The verse that stands out to me is the one that refers to the pandemic: “Now we’re coming out of the darkest years yet/Full of sickness and sadness and violence/Looking back through time we see how far we’ve progressed/Humankind can overcome the worst of itself.” I appreciate the optimistic bent of those lines, particularly as I don’t always share that outlook, but wish I did. We are still in the grip of some heavy weirdness in this country. But in general I do believe things will get better. They have to, don’t they? Robbie Benson plays piano on this track, Jordan Skomal is on trumpet, and Chris Ruiz is on saxophone, and these musicians add to the song’s positive sound. There are even hand claps toward the end. I do hope we soon emerge from the darkness this country has been enveloped in since 2016. And I do believe music can play an important role in letting in the light.

Then things get a bit funky with “Open Your Heart,” the album’s title track, which contains a strong bass line. Here there is still optimism, still a positive outlook, but the song is also more fixed in the current reality. The song opens with these lines, “Everything’s a mess/But who knows what could happen next/I will be here, I will be free, you cannot touch me/There’s people are out there stoking the flames/I won’t play a part, I won’t play their game.” It is true that there are people who make their livings keeping others angry, even inventing ridiculous things for them to fear and then promising to take care of those things. The trick is to remain unaffected by that. Don’t let their manufactured anger touch you. And this song offers this advice and reminder: “The way to truth would never prey upon your fear/Open your heart so you can hear.” There is a good jam toward the end, featuring strong work on guitar. Kevin Lufkin plays organ and piano on this track. “Open Your Heart” was written by Teresa Storch and Peter Lacis.

“Feels So Good” has a solid rock sound right out of the gate, that rhythm and guitar work reminding me of some of the music I grew up on. This one is about looking back at a relationship that she now knows should have ended sooner than it did. “Now that you’re gone, I know it went on way too long/Oh and I admit you’re the best I had, but still I’m glad/It feels so good to feel so bad.” Her voice shows a delicious attitude. This is a totally enjoyable song. There is something empowering about it, and it contains another great guitar lead. That’s followed by “Best Of Both Words,” an unusual and true love song about finding that person that helps you pursue your dreams as well as giving you a place to settle down. It has a sweeter vibe. “All that came before I was/Here with you, living the best of both worlds/Of where I can go and travel alone, or stay with our family here at home.” Both “Feels So Good” and “Best Of Both Worlds” were written by Teresa Storch and Peter Lacis.

“This Is The Time” deals with our strange political reality, and has a good rock edge that works well with its subject. “A worried young mother soothing her child, elected officials are spewing out lies/The media outlets are toeing their lines, assuring us all, yet this is the time/This is the time for turning around now/This is the time for holding our ground/This is the time, but don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid/This is the time when history’s made.” Another line that stands out to me is this: “There comes a time to wake from illusion.” That time is nigh. But I am not always optimistic that folks will be able to do it. Will it happen before November? That they might not is a frightening proposition. I love Teresa Storch’s vocal performance here. There is some anger, understandably, but more than that it contains encouragement and hope. “This Is The Time” was written by Teresa Storch and Peter Lacis. There is the ticking of a stopwatch at the end of the song.

“Would I Burn” leads us to question which causes are important to us, important enough to take action. And, more importantly, it leads us to question just what we would do to right some injustice. It does this by having Teresa ask herself those very questions: “Could I have Mandela’s heart, forgive my captors for their part/Call them my equals while from their prison I am released?/What would I burn for? Would I die for my beliefs?/Could I be a burning light to point us towards our own release?/Would I give my life, just to do what’s right?/Would I give my life?” Difficult questions, and it’s understandable that many people wish to go through their lives without asking them. The next song, “Ballad Of St. Francis,” then questions what might be the results of our actions. “Would hatred disappear/If I planted the seed/And gave my love to those who made me bleed?” Here there is a sadness, a weariness to the delivery, which makes it all the more honest and effective. The song asks if we can do it, and if it would be worth it if we did. It’s a striking song. This track features some beautiful work on strings by Eli Bishop, and a moving instrumental section in the second half.

It is interesting to me that in the world of song, lyrics about going home and lyrics about leaving seem equally appealing. In “Time To Go,” Teresa Storch knows she needs to go, but wants to enjoy her home once more before departing, singing “Enjoy this old back porch one last time.” Toward the end of the track, there is a powerful build, a great swell, a burst of energy that seems like a wave pushing us on, taking us to the future, to something new, to that destination. The song then relaxes just before the end, as Teresa leaves us with this thought: “There’s nothing to be scared of.” She repeats the line, which might add to the line’s resolve, to its certainty, or it might make us think she is uncertain and needs the confirmation. That’s followed by the album’s sole cover, “We Belong,” a song written by Dan Navarro and Eric Lowen. It was a hit for Pat Benatar in 1984. I’ve heard the song many times since then, sometimes the Pat Benatar version and sometimes Dan Navarro’s own rendition, and it’s always held up for me. This version by Teresa Storch Band is wonderful, with a strong vocal performance. These guys dig into it and deliver a powerful version.

“It’s Not Okay” is a song about gender inequality and the excuses people make for behavior and unwanted comments. And it’s about not accepting those excuses. “I hear you think it’s just what people say/I hear you meant nothing by it/I heard you claim it’s just how you were raised/Still I say, it’s not okay,” Teresa Storch sings at the beginning of this one. It’s crazy that a song like is still needed, but we find ourselves in a time when a man heard on tape bragging about sexual assault was still able to become the president of the country and is threatening to do so again (this time even after a jury found him guilty of sexual abuse). What is wrong with us as a people? Do we not have mothers, sisters, daughters, female friends? Christopher Wright plays drums on this track. “It’s Not Okay” is followed by “Independence Reign,” which has a pretty and uplifting folk sound, featuring Eli Bishop on mandolin, and builds from there to include some good work on electric guitar. “This is a solitary life/Still, I wonder if we might share the ride/Well, you’ve got dreams to find, while I’m out here living mine/But I miss security sometimes.” Approximately halfway through the track, this song bursts up to another level. The disc then concludes with a reprise of “Things Will Get Better” (which is not listed on the CD case), leaving us where we started, though perhaps now sharing that hope, the optimism of the song. “Things will get better/Believing is the first step.”

CD Track List

1. Things Will Get Better
2. Open Your Heart
3. Feels So Good
4. Best Of Both Worlds
5. This Is The Time
6. Would I Burn
7. Ballad Of St. Francis
8. Time To Go
9. We Belong
10. It’s Not Okay
11. Independence Reign
12. Things Will Get Better (Reprise)

Open Your Heart was released on April 26, 2024.