A Conversation with Deb (D.J.) Adler

By Ann Bender

The first time I saw Deb (D.J.) Adler perform was as the opening act for Holly Near's 1981 concert in Kent. D.J.'s style, presence and music were all consistent on the slightly serious side and I overheard a woman sitting near me refer to D.J. as a recovering alcoholic who "sings to help herself and other women with drinking problems." At the time, I remember admiring D.J. for undertaking the difficult task of "warming up" an audience already warm and ready to hear Holly Near and Adrienne Torf perform. I also recollect thinking that D.J.'s brief performance did not give me an adequate opportunity to assess her abilities as a performer.

Since then I have heard D.J. perform locally, have purchased/listened to/enjoyed her first tape, "Here and Now," and have read about her in various publications, including a review of her tape which appeared in Sojourner (Cambridge, MA, July, 1982), in which Martha Thurber said:

Out in the Midwest environs of Cleveland, there has been lurking a talented feminist folk musician by the name of Deb (D.J.) Adler....D.J. is a talented musician. She has a strong, clear voice which can, with equal ease, slide through a soft ballad and belt out with the best of them. Her guitar work is quite good, though there's not much that's fancy....All twelve songs on "Here and Now" are D.J.'s own and they reflect her concerns as a feminist and a lesbian....The lyrics are strongly political, but there is enough lightness, humor and talent to keep this listener from getting overly bogged down with "the message." This tape makes me want to hear D.J. in person....Let's hope promoting the tape forces her out into the countryside on a promotional tour.

After reading that review, I was curious about this woman who seems to be on her way to a successful career as a composer and performer. In December, I drove to the west side to hear her sing at "It's It" Deli, thinking it to be an unusual setting for a feminist singer/musician. Although she offered many tunes to entertain any traditional restaurant's clientele, members of her audience requested (and all responded most positively to) her own pieces which contained undisguised feminist and lesbian lyrics.

I talked with Deb about her music and her plans for the near future. Although she opened our conversation by giving herself the reputation for being somewhat distant and/or reserved, I found her to be an open and caring woman with a refreshing sense of humor.

Q: Deb, do you define yourself as a feminist singer, a singing feminist, or do you define yourself in these terms?

A: I don't think of myself as a feminist singer per se, although people tend to view me as a political entertainer. I can only think of two songs I wrote with a specific purpose in mind-both were for "Take Back the Night." The rest of the time what I write comes from feelings I need to get out. I've written love songs to be sung to another woman, I've written about battered women-these are personal issues. I've made a firm commitment to address certain issues in performance, including the women's experience, in a broader, more direct way than they are addressed by the more commercial music industry. I want to do more than just entertain, because music has such power to heal, to teach, to communicate, to effect change in a positive way. So, you tell me whether that means I'm a feminist singer...

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Was there any specific experience you had

which directly affected your decision to begin writing women's music?

A: Yes. In 1978 a friend played some Holly Near albums for me. I had never heard of Holly Near or women's music-but I heard songs on those albums that described women's lives and experiences as I had. never heard before, and I knew that this was the direction I wanted to take with my own writing. There was also an experience I had in 1975, traveling to Kenya with eight other Americans through the Experiment in International Living program. We each lived with families in Nairobi, spent two weeks working on a construction project with village-dwellers in Kitui, and traveled along the east coast, to Mombasa and Lamu. Through my experiences there, my personal and professional goals, my whole perspective to the world was radically altered. Once you experience another culture through the eyes of that culture, the way you look at yourself and your own culture is never the same.

You know, it's funny. I had a friend in high school, Carl, who wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance because he didn't consider himself just a citizen of the United States, but more a citizen of the world. I was pretty straightlaced then and I couldn't understand this. Of course, my parents thought he was a "commie". But through my experiences in Kenya, I grew to understand. Coming home from Kenya was quite a shock-everything here is much bigger and in greater quantity than is really needed, and we have so many extras that are meaningless. Our visions of ourselves and the rest of the world tend to be so narrow, so limited. I felt a need to have my work reflect the experiences that I had had there, a concern for the quality of life for all people and the need for people to work together, to understand and accept each other.

Q: Deb, you're originally from Detroit. Why did you decide to make Cleveland home?

A: I came to Cleveland in 1977 to attend graduate school at CWRU. At first I really missed Detroit, but I've grown to love Cleveland and the people I've met here. By the time I finished school, I felt settled. I've gone through some major career changes here, and some personal ones. This is where I got sober, and that makes this place special. I have received a lot of positive support from people here, so I feel good that

-I can say I'm a Clevelander.

Q: How do you feel about being known as a "sober" woman; does it bother you?

A: No, not at all, as long as people can accept that that is only one aspect of my life. I'm not out to "preach sobriety"-I know that if someone had talked about getting sober while I was still drinking, I would have thought, "Gee, isn't it great what they've done for themselves" and drunk another round to their health. It's important for me to share that I'm a recovering alcoholic for two reasons: 1) I got my start on sobriety at the Michigan Women's Music Festival in 1979; and 2) I receive a lot of letters from women with alcohol and other drug problems who tell me that my being visible helps them to see that it's possible to make it. That helps me, too.

Q: There's a noticeable difference between the atmosphere of women's concerts/coffeehouses and a place like It's It Deli. For instance, there's no stage, no spotlight or sound effects at It's It. How do you feel about performing in such different environments?

A: I love it; it's exciting. I'm learning a lot performing at It's It. Obviously it's a much more diverse audience and learning to respond to those differences has been good for me, as has being forced to establish a regular schedule for rehearsal, which I've needed. It has allowed me to expand my repertoire and to spend more time with my instruments instead of just my voice, so that I'm feeling a little bit more like a musician, where I didn't used to consider myself as one.

Q: I would probably call your musical style a combination of folk and contemporary ballads. What would you call it?

A: I haven't known exactly what to call my music, because it doesn't always fit into a particular category. Much of what I've done can loosely be classified as folk music, although I enjoy writing and singing love ballads. There's more variety to what I do these days-I've managed to incorporate some classical and even a little jazz in the process of exploring new rhythms and sounds. At the same time, I've been studying folk artists from the '30's and '40's and I'm trying to work some of their authenticity in(continued on page 14)

Ferron: Polished Punk

By Susan Woodworth

Ferron is a Canadian musician who earned her reputation as a dynamic performer at the 1981 Michigan Women's Music Festival. Her appearance at the 1982 Michigan Festival amidst the political controversy there and her ease and humor in handling conflict drew even more attention. Her album Testimony has been available on the Lucy Label for two years, and was recently re-released on the Philo Label in this country.

Ferron's concerts on the women's music circuit have drawn large crowds, and the strength of this album has contributed to her success. She has written all original material from a very personal, emotional viewpoint. Each song, both lyrically and melodically, is a whole concept which takes a couple of hearings to realize. Her ballads, particularly, describe cmotional times that ring true.

Therese Edell has performed one of these songs, Ain't Life a Brook," in her concerts here. Ferron and Therese share a similar vocal quality and timbre,

and the humor and warmth are similar as well. Musically the album is polished because Ferron has utilized a rich instrumental background, including her own accomplished acoustic guitar work, electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion, piano, organ, sax, clarinet, cello and violin. Her somewhat flat vocal style is an interesting contrast to the instrumental arrangements.

Ferron's music has been described as "punk" or "new wave". Her vocal quality and some instrumental work might lend credence to that description of her work, but her optimism and poetic skill as a lyricist definitely show on the album. No explicit feminist politics are obvious, but she does use relationships with women as material for her lyrics. Her vulnerability, anger, and some cynicism do come through in her tone, which might contribute to a "punk" sound.

Oven Productions will produce Ferron in concent at Cleveland State University on March 19th. The album should be available there, and is currently available at Coventry Books,'han

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