Premiere: Alice Howe’s Getaway Car revs up

Visions turn into reality

“I can’t remember not singing,” Alice Howe said, and her earliest memories were of her mother’s records—Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, and other blues giants.

After college and a time in Seattle, she made her way back to her native Massachusetts and, in 2016, attended the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference where she met bassist Freebo, veteran performer with Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ringo Starr, Loudon Wainwright III, Neil Young, Dr. John, and more. Freebo invited Howe to record in the dry, gritty, heartland town of Bakersfield, CA, a counterpoint to the lush green of Howe’s New England and Northwest environments. An ace band backed her rich soprano as she delved into American music: blues, bluegrass, folk, and pop.

As an example of the way her music evolved in the course of her sessions with Freebo, Howe told Elmore, “‘Getaway Car’ taught me how to let go. I tend toward more serious, reflective songs, and this one is BIG, it’s fun, and it stands out on the record. Because it’s a departure from the norm, learning how to sing it was a journey for me. It was challenging at first, allowing myself to relax and enjoy it, releasing self-consciousness and getting into the groove. I got there eventually—you can hear it in my laugh at the end—and that lesson has stayed with me.

“For the video, I got together with Boston videographer Brandon Johnson, and we took a day-long joy ride all over my home town. Iknew I wanted to feature Jane, my 1989 Volvo 240 wagon. We’re the two main characters. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for 240s. My parents drove them when I was growing up, and to me they just epitomize this funky, cute, classic aesthetic that I adore. It’s my perfect getaway car.”

Howe co-wrote most of the album’s originals with Freebo, and the two artists hand picked gems from Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, Taj Mahal, Bob Dylan and others.

A NewSong Music Songwriting and Performance Competition Finalist in 2018, Howe has spent fall of that year on a critically acclaimed tour of the UK and the Netherlands, performed at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance and FAR-West Folk Alliance conferences, and was selected as a Kerrville New Folk Finalist.