You can call the music she makes folk if you want, but there’s jazz in it, too, and blues, and a soulful something or other that you can’t quite put into words. Whether onstage or on record, she presents herself just as she is—no gimmicks, no flashy pyrotechnics, only the solid musicianship of someone who knows and loves her craft.
Natalia's bio from her website (July 2010):
Natalia Zukerman’s Weasel Records debut Brand New Frame introduces listeners to her rich layers of top notch guitar playing, contemporary beats and dark, sweet, provocative vocals. Musically sophisticated, intimate and irreverent all at once, this record highlights what’s best about Americana music and offers it a Brand New Frame.
It is an album about change. In Brand New Frame, Zukerman challenges listeners to break out of patterns and rhythms that hold them back from reaching the truth. The title track, “Brand New Frame” is a wake up call to those who tell the same stories over and over again to anyone who will listen. “Better Me” presents the idea that the people we are striving to be are there all along, waiting for us to catch up to what we already know we are capable of. “Only Trees” is a metaphor for what Zukerman’s album is all about – that things change: landscapes, ideas, music. In the song she recognizes the way we live our modern lives at breakneck speed, and invites us to slow down.
Produced by Willy Porter (www.willyporter.com), Brand New Frame features Zukerman on vocals and guitars, with Dave Schoepke on drums, Dave Adler on keys, Leroy Deuster on Pedal Steel, Bryan Mir on electric bass, Todd Sickafoose (Ani Difranco) and Marty Ballou (John Hammond) on upright bass. The album is also sprinkled with notable guest appearances by fellow songwriters Willy Porter, Melissa Ferrick and Edie Carey.
Warning: You may not be able to get over the mesmerizing guitar chops of the talented Natalia Zukerman, but if you can, you will discover layers. Country roads that lead to red barns, antique shops, glass bottles, resonators, lap steels, finger-picking and trembling slides. And alongside these winding roads are back alleys, flagging cabs, and the buzz of a streetlight clicking with kick drums, pleading organs, and speeding electric guitars behind lyrics that delve boldly into work, love, temptation and the journey to personal reinvention. Brand New Frame tells the story of valuing the past while growing new skin; the unraveling of a relationship with realism, humor and tenderness.
Zukerman didn’t have to look far as a child to find musical influence. She attributes her rigorous work ethic, discipline and instrumental predisposition to her parents. The daughter of violinist/conductor Pinchas Zukerman and flutist/writer Eugenia Zukerman, Natalia grew up in Manhattan immersed in classical music.
Her ears were tuned to perfect pitch, and the guitar dexterity, intricate sense of rhythm and meter evident in her own musicianship came naturally. So did the lifestyle of a traveling performer. Performing live—and experiencing what she calls the life of a “wandering gypsy”—is a family tradition. In addition to her parents, her sister Arianna is an opera singer, and her grandfather played clarinet in Klezmer bands in Poland and later in Israel.
In a sense, Zukerman explores family heritage in “Song For Ramblin’ Jack” one of the 10 original songs on Brand New Frame. She explains it is in part about blood-related family but even more so about the extended family of American troubadours who travel the country sharing both traditional and contemporary genres, songs, skills, instruments, and styles.
“The song ‘Ramblin’ Jack’ came after a Folk Alliance conference in Austin. I realized there that I was a part of this grand tradition of troubadours that was, for me, as much about my own family of traveling musicians as a shared American history. I consider myself a student of traditional music, even though some would say the noise I make is not so traditional.
I did meet Ramblin’ Jack Elliot at a friend’s place in Pt. Reyes, CA a few years ago. I loved him, loved his way of weaving a story and loved that I, in my own little way, try to carry on his legacy as much as the legacy of my own family.”
Since 2004, Zukerman has been touring the country opening shows for roots greats and guitar slingers including Kelly Joe Phelps, Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky, Garnet Rogers, Melissa Ferrick, Catie Curtis, Susan Werner and many others. It was on the road that Zukerman formed the relationship with Willy Porter that would lead to producing Brand New Frame and releasing the album on his label Weasel Records.
“Brand New Frame is a perfect fit with what I’ve always wanted Weasel to represent. The small but mighty team here is thrilled to share Natalia’s record, and tremendous talent, with the world.” -Willy Porter.
Bones
Natalia Zukerman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If ever there was a time to touch me too long
If ever there was a gone to be our time,
That time is gone
Cuz you can't say that you can't swim
The turn around and jump right in
Say come on in the water's fine
If ever there was a worse time than this
If ever there was a worse idea than to kiss me
I can't think of what it would be
I can't think at all so help me
You can't say that you can't fly
Then wave to me from way on high
Say come on up the air is clear
Why are you just standing there?
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
Like bones
There's nothing so sweet as a new friend
With no past and a present with no end
But all shiny things must fade
She's just filled the space that you made
Cuz you can't say that you can't sing
Then be the song the morning brings
Sing it to me one more time
Why are you still crying?
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
Like bones
Bones that break and bones that shatter
That bone that juts out above her collar
The thing that's shaken me to my bones
Is the thing I've come to know?
If ever there was a time to tell me
If ever there was a time to touch me too long
If ever there was a time to be our time,
That time is gone
That time is gone
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
It is a shrinking thin
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
Like bones
The lyrics of Natalia Zukerman's song Bones reflect a complicated relationship between two individuals. The first stanza seems to indicate an opportunity for something to happen between the two people, but that moment has passed. It is too late to tell each other how they feel, too long to touch, and the time that could have been theirs is gone. The second stanza introduces the idea that something could be worse than what is currently happening, but the singer cannot think of anything. The mood of the song is quite melancholic, and the third stanza emphasizes the changing nature of the relationship between the two people. The love that was once present is now a changing thing, and the patience of one protagonist is a shrinking thing like bones.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the theme of change, with the singer's love and patience for the other person being described as a changing and shrinking thing like the world outside the window and bones. The song also introduces the idea of new love with "nothing so sweet as a new friend," but eventually, that too will fade away. The final stanza returns to the first, repeating that the opportunity they once had is now gone, suggesting the possibility of regret. The repetition of the chorus reinforces the notion that the relationship between the two individuals is changing, and the emotions that they have for each other are shifting.
Line by Line Meaning
If ever there was a time to tell me
If there was ever a moment to speak your truth to me
If ever there was a time to touch me too long
If there was ever a time to be intimate with me for a lengthy period
If ever there was a gone to be our time,
That time is gone
If there was a moment for us to be together, it has passed
Cuz you can't say that you can't swim
The turn around and jump right in
Say come on in the water's fine
Why are you crying?
You cannot claim you are unable to swim and then proceed to dive in, and then ask me to join you while you weep
If ever there was a worse time than this
If ever there was a worse idea than to kiss me
I can't think of what it would be
I can't think at all so help me
I cannot fathom if there existed a worse timing or idea than kissing me, my mind is blank
You can't say that you can't fly
Then wave to me from way on high
Say come on up the air is clear
Why are you just standing there?
You cannot claim you cannot fly, and then soar way above me, indicating clarity in the air, and leave me behind standing still
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
Like bones
My love for you alters much like the surroundings beyond my window, and simultaneously, my tolerance for you is waning, akin to bones deteriorating over time
There's nothing so sweet as a new friend
With no past and a present with no end
But all shiny things must fade
She's just filled the space that you made
Having a new friend with no past and a timeless present is incomparable, but all good things must finish eventually. This new friend has taken your place.
Cuz you can't say that you can't sing
Then be the song the morning brings
Sing it to me one more time
Why are you still crying?
You cannot say you cannot sing and then proceed to sing the melody the morning offers, but shed tears while doing so
Bones that break and bones that shatter
That bone that juts out above her collar
The thing that's shaken me to my bones
Is the thing I've come to know?
Bones that can fracture and bones that can shatter. That bone protruding from over her collar. The thing that disturbs me unreservedly is the thing that I now understand?
If ever there was a time to tell me
If ever there was a time to touch me too long
If ever there was a time to be our time,
That time is gone
That time is gone
If there was ever an appropriate moment to express yourself to me or touch me excessively, it has exclusively been a moment in the past.
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
It is a shrinking thin
Oh my love for you it is a changing thing
Like the world outside my window
And oh yes
My patience for you it is a shrinking thing
Like bones
My affection for you is undergoing modification like the environment beyond my window, and my perseverance for you is thinning constantly, very much like bones deteriorating over time.
Contributed by Riley A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.