2. Nat Baldwin
“Wake Up It’s Time To Rise”
from “Lights Out”
Nat Baldwin–double bass, vocals
Sam Rosen–vocals
Juliet Nelson–vocals
www.myspace.com/natbaldwin

Nat Baldwin makes music that pits the head against the heart. The lurch and drone of his upright bass, which he saws and beats with impeccable technique and painful intensity, undercuts the even keel of a voice that’s pitched somewhere between Thom Yorke and Andrew Bird. Awe-striking, beautiful and harrowing all at once, “Lights Out” is Baldwin’s second CD and one of the first releases from the new Broken Sparrow label (www.brokensparrow.com).

Baldwin’s other gigs range from holding down the low-end for Americana ensemble Tiger Saw (you can hear him on their new disc, “Sing!”) to performing with the Dirty Projectors as well as Sam Rosen and the Look South. He’s also an improviser who has played with the legendary Anthony Braxton and is not above dueting with a vacuum cleaner, as he did at Portsmouth’s experimental music series, The Tong. After releasing “Solo Contrabass” in 2002, he continued to work in experimental music until a couple years ago, when, he says, “I stopped playing music and was confused as to which direction I wanted to go, until I found new inspiration in writing and singing songs.” That led him to record “Lights Out” last August with the help of Rosen, who contributes backup vocals.

Baldwin leads a group that includes trumpet, drums and two cellists, and he has two new recordings in the can—one with his band, and another as a split with Providence’s Deer Tick. He plans to release both by the end of the year. Baldwin just returned from a solo tour that took him as far as Florida and Chicago, where audiences discovered a ferocious, electric performer. Whatever direction he turns next, Baldwin’s career is only beginning to unfold.