INTERVIEW
The versatile Cynthia Clawson (whose singing has been compared to that of Barbra Striesand and Edith Piaf) has just released Carolsinger, sequel to her popular album Hymnsinger. She talked to CT soon after completing this new recording.
How did you prepare for Carolsinger?
[Pianist and arranger David Maddux and I] took Renaissance paintings and our favorite poetry into the recording studio with us—things we loved and would make us get in touch with each other. I also had an Advent sermon from my pastor about the poverty of the shepherds and how the Lord appeared to those who least expected him.
The “angelic” quality in “Lo How a Rose” is not typical. Was that you sounding like a choir boy?
I was being silly, and stood very erect and started singing. David began to play, and I laughed at the end of the first verse; he said to go on. When he looked at me there was a sense of, “Hey, maybe we could do this.”
My little boy, who’s nine, has a wonderful voice and doesn’t know it. I thought that if I could make this sound like a choir boy, maybe I was singing for him.
The album is so spontaneous. Did you record these songs without reworking?
Yes, almost every one. I do a lot of concert work, where you only have one shot. I think this is the way I work best.
And David and I are very much alike musically. When we are in the studio it’s almost like we’re dancing together.
What do old hymns and familiar carols do for us?
The way the lyricists wrote them takes us to another level in our thinking, and lifts our minds as well as our spirits.
A friend who got hurt by the organized church recently told me, “When I hear those hymns, I don’t remember so much of the pain as I remember the goodness.” Music softens the blows of life.
