April 29-May 5, 2004

music

Ripe for the Picking

PEACE, OUT: "We don’t just sing about lesbian/feminist issues," says Mel Watson (right) of Fruit. " We don’t want to be pigeonholed."

Why a folk-rock band from Down Under planted seeds in the Philly area.

by Mary Armstrong

At the 2002 Folk Alliance in Jacksonville, Fla., you had to show up early or you were out of luck. Australian folk-rock group Fruit had people peeping around the doorjamb trying to attach visuals to the lush harmonies. There was something else surprising and alluring about the sound, too.

The Folk Alliance, always trying valiantly to broaden its appeal -- next year it combines with the world music conference Strictly Mundial for one time only -- is still best known for its yearly showcasing of singing-songwriting WGGs (White-Guy/Girl-Guitar). The sound of Fruit's trumpet was a welcome departure.

"We are still signing contracts off that conference!" says Fruit's road manager Sue Arlidge.

In the band, the woman with skin art up to her armpit is Mel Watson, 32, master of trumpet, tenor sax, clarinet and tenor horn. She also shares, more or less equally, lead singing and songwriting duties with the other original Fruits.

Fruit was started out in 1995 in Adelaide, Australia, as nothing more than a gathering of musical friends. But by 1996 they were taking the show on the road. There have been a few changes to the rhythm section, but the core trio -- Watson along with guitarists Susie Keynes and Sam Lohs -- has since been making music and touring internationally ever since.

The band has been compared to Crosby, Stills and Nash, but that shouldn't indicate a derivative sound, but rather a dearth of comparable pop/folk harmonizers. Plenty of groups harmonize in a casual way and many can share lead singing duties, but only a few have three equally strong lead singers. Fewer still have five voices blending on the choruses the way the full band version of Fruit does.

But why would this band leave a warm Australian summer, travel halfway round the world and settle in the extended Philly area for three months? Starting in February? The long story starts with Musikfest, Bethlehem's annual 10-day festival with 1,000-plus free-performances. Fruit's 2000 debut brought such a strong response that they've been booked twice more since.

"There was one Musikfest sound guy we always worked with who had been trying to hook us up with a certain producer for years," says Watson. Finally, last August, the band met David Ivory, known for engineering The Roots' Things Fall Apart and Illadelph Halflife and several Erykah Badu recordings. Patti LaBelle has also chosen Ivory's Dylanava Studio in Gwynedd Valley to cut the vocals for "Two Steps Away" for her next CD.

Ivory and Fruit clicked. "These guys are really great, one of the best bands I've seen in a while," says Ivory. "They can write well and play beautifully." Ivory and the band are determined to take Fruit from winning Australian awards for "best live album" to worldwide radio play and success.

To do that, Ivory says he took the band "back to the campfire. They broke all the songs down to acoustic guitar. Then we picked just the best songs, regardless of the writer, and surprisingly they have an even mix."

Under his tutelage, Watson says that Fruit's trademark seven-minute cuts will exist only in live performance. Henceforth everything will be snappy, three-minute commercial-radio favors.

"[Ivory] understands us. He should write a book, the Psychology of Producing. He has worked out how to get the best of each of us individually," says Watson of the enthusiastic producer. "He'll come in on preproduction, waving arms, shouting, "Cut two bars here and go to the chorus!' And, without fail, it works."

Production is winding down. Drummer Yanya Boston and bass player Brian Ruiz have returned to Australia, but the core trio will perform a several more times, including gigs in Wilmington and Bryn Mawr. Afterward they'll return to the studio for a few more days, including sessions with string players from the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Asked about Fruit's politics, Watson says yes, originally Fruit was "six women who all happened to be gay, but we always wanted to be broader. We don't just sing about lesbian/feminist issues. We don't want to be pigeonholed, especially now that we have different sexualities in the group. We can play any kind of festival," she says proudly. "We've had Hells Angels standing next to lesbian separatists next to fathers and sons who journeyed together out to see Fruit."

Fruit plays Fri., April 30, 8 p.m., 4W5 Cafe, 421 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del., 302-834-3732; and Sun., May 2, 1 and 7 p.m., $15, at The Point, 880 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-0988.