Paula Fong: “Chestnut Mare” (2024) CD Review

Paula Fong is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She released two albums with Tom Kell, Between Heartache And Promise in 2016 and The Other Side Of Sorrow in 2019, and has played with Abby Posner. Now she is putting out her first solo EP. Titled Chestnut Mare, this release features original material, most of it written by Paula Fong (with one being an adaptation of a poem written by her mother). Joining her on this EP are Michael Starr on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar and keyboards; Phil Glenn on violin, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, piano and backing vocals; Cory Tramontelli on upright bass and electric bass; Deacon Marquinn on drums and percussion; Phil Parlapiano on electric piano and organ; and Nate Richert on percussion. There are also guests on most of the tracks.

The EP opens with its title track, “Chestnut Mare,” which is the one that began as a poem by Paula Fong’s mother (and not to be confused with the Byrds song of the same name). It is a pretty song, featuring some gentle work on acoustic guitar, along with some wonderful touches on banjo. Johnny Flaugher plays upright bass on this track, delivering some really nice stuff. Paula Fong’s vocal approach reminds me a bit of some of Joni Mitchell’s early work. “Guiding spirit, treading softly, light my pathway, bring me round/Hover gently, hear us clearly, simply pleading, ‘Make us found.’” That’s followed by “A House Is Not A Home,” which has a delightfully cheerful vibe. “Once I was so young and free and rambling/I traveled across the land and mountainsides/But now I’ve found a love who has claimed my heart/Ready for a new adventure, you by my side.” The music conveys the joy of both the traveling and the love, and this track features good stuff on mandolin and violin. It has such a pleasant and merry vibe.

The tone then changes for “As Memories Fade,” a heartfelt and heartrending song about loss, a loss that endures even as the memories leave. “Though I look, you can’t be found, save in memories from so long ago/Once I saw your smile in everything, in every mirror, your furrowed brow/Now I find those pictures dwindling, when I reach, they evade me somehow.” Those lyrics are so moving, those lines had me in tears. This song is about her brother, who took his own life. That’s horrible enough, but the idea of losing those memories, those mental pictures, is nearly unbearable. As we listen, we can’t help but think of those we have loved and are now gone, and the thought of their faces disappearing from our memories is overwhelming. This is a beautiful song, featuring an excellent vocal performance, along with some really wonderful work on violin. “And I know through my grief there’s forgiving/But knowing that won’t bring you back to me.” Daniel Landau provides backing vocal work on this track.

My two biggest passions in life (apart from friends and family) are music and Shakespeare, and the two sometimes overlap, as they do on this EP. Ophelia doesn’t show up as often in songs as, say, Juliet does, but there are still several songs that mention that character, such as Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” and the Grateful Dead’s “Althea,” and there are several songs titled “Ophelia,”  such as those by Natalie Merchant and The Lumineers (apparently The Band’s “Ophelia” isn’t about the Shakespeare character at all). Paula Fong’s “Ophelia” was inspired at least in part by the book Reviving Ophelia: Saving The Selves Of Adolescent Girls. “Won’t you sing again for me, Ophelia, of all the sorrow buried in your heart/For the watcher never sees in your eagerness to please/All the shame was merely sadness from the start.” Abby Posner joins her on vocals, and they sound wonderful together. This track also features some good work on violin, and is another of the disc’s highlights.

“Jacob & Esau” is based on a biblical story. I am not all that familiar with the story, except what I gathered from the Grateful Dead song “My Brother Esau,” which is inspired in part by that same story. Teresa James (of Teresa James And The Rhythm Tramps) and Ben Matin join Paula Fong on vocals for this one, and there is some strong vocal work to open this track. This song has a compelling atmosphere, created in part by the percussion and that excellent work on violin. It is a striking song, and features some good work on keys. “Well, you may call me brother, but we are as strangers now/You can’t undo the injury that’s stamped upon my brow.” The EP then concludes with “The Fallen Lamb,” this one too having biblical allusions. “You fill up a glass just to fill up a need/Pity the shepherd with no flock to lead/Raise your hands to the fallen lamb/Raise your hands to the fallen lamb.” Leeann Skoda, whose set was one of the highlights at the International Women’s Day concert at the Hotel Café earlier this year, joins her on vocals. This track also features some moving work on violin.

CD Track List

1. Chestnut Mare
2. A House Is Not A Home
3. As Memories Fade
4. Ophelia
5. Jacob & Esau
6. The Fallen Lamb

Chestnut Mare is scheduled to be released on September 6, 2024.