Hutchinson leaves time to reflect on questions of life

Winner of the Best Female Singer Songwriter Album, Indie Acoustic Project in 2008, Meg Hutchinson brings her velvet vocals to Duluth’s Amazing Grace Café. Meg calls Boston home, but is launching a Midwest USA tour in support of her new CD, “The Living Side.”

In a recent radio interview with me on Home Town Sounds, Meg shared her story of how her career began. Although there had been many moments along the way that has pushed her into a performance career, perhaps the single most memorable thing was inheriting her grandmothers 1950s Martin guitar. Meg was 9-years-old at the time and just starting guitar lessons.

She told me that she is certain “… that some of Grandma Red’s songs are still living in that guitar ...” She also felt Grandma Red would have lived a similar life that Meg is living now, had it been more acceptable during her time.

It is very much like having responsibility for her grandmother’s unfinished business.

If you’re a Nora Jones fan, you will enjoy the collection of music on this CD. It is thought-provoking and rich with guitar and vocal arrangements. My favorite song, and I literally mean my new favorite song, is the first track of this disk, “Hard to Change.” It jumps off the disk for me. Meg captures that elusive line of questions about life in our country. She questions hard work and terrible hours, with little reward. She questions all of the time saving gadgets, but where is her time saved. She questions global climate changes “… It use to snow here, but now it only rains.”

In this four minutes of poetry, she is able to place her hands firmly on each side of your face, and look you straight in your eyes and ask you, personally, does your life make sense?

The collection of songs is a conversation of the human condition.

She intentionally designed the music to have longer than normal ending arrangements to allow the listener to reflect and to interact with the lyrics. She wanted us to have a chance to answer the questions raised.

It’s brilliant in design and beautifully done.

Meg performs live this Saturday at the Amazing Grace Café in Duluth. This is an unusual chance to see and hear an exceptional talent.

Scott Johnson is the owner of Northwoods Music and the Northwoods Music Festival and radio host of Home Town Sounds 850AM Fridays from 1 to 2 p.m.

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