The Herald-Palladium, 1/14/2010

Sunday Night Live

Sarah Borges to record fan-and-band-funded DVD at The Livery

By JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO
H-P Features Writer

BENTON HARBOR — Sarah Borges hears it at every show.

She and her Boston-based band, The Broken Singles, may be repeatedly lauded for delivering high-energy live performances, but they’re also reminded that their three studio recordings have yet to capture that same excitement.

“When you first meet someone who likes your band they’re very complimentary,” Borges says by telephone from Boston. “They say, ‘Oh I really liked your last record,’ and the next time you see them they say, ‘I really like such and such song,’ and the time after that they say, ‘This record’s good, but I really wish you had captured the live thing.’ That’s been pretty much expressed across the board, and we feel that way, too. We just have not done a good job of capturing that.”

That’s why Borges and her band mates – guitarist Lyle Brewer, bassist Binky, and drummer Rob Dulaney – recorded the forthcoming CD, “Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles Live,” during two sold out shows Jan. 1 and 2 at the Lizard Lounge, in Cambridge, Mass. On Sunday, they’ll also be recording a live performance DVD at The Livery in Benton Harbor. Both projects are scheduled to be released in March.

Aesthetically speaking, Borges says, The Livery’s two levels – the main floor and overlooking balcony – provide plenty of angles for the five-camera shoot, but that’s not the only reason they chose the Benton Harbor brewery for the project.

“Every time we’ve played there it’s really been a special event,” Borges says. “We’ve just always had a great time, and we knew we would have a really good group of audience members. You kind of want people to applaud on your live DVD.”

In addition to the live performance, the DVD also will contain the eight-year backstory of the band, and possibly, Borges says, some of the history of The Livery as well. The CD and the DVD, however, will not be distributed by the band’s label, Sugar Hill Records.

“Everything economically is so difficult these days and that’s carried over to the music industry,” Borges says. “We haven’t parted ways. They just felt like this is something they wanted to stay out of, so we’re doing it independently.”

To help raise the roughly $5,000 to make the DVD happen, the band is taking donations through its Web site (www.sarahborges.com). Those who chip in $25 or more will receive both a copy of the DVD and a spot in the liner notes. The CD and DVD will be sold during live shows and through the band’s Web site.

“One thing that was important for us was for people to have a version of songs that they really enjoy live and also have a song or two that’s not on a record,” Borges says. “We thought it would be great if they could have a song or two that doesn’t exist somewhere else already.”

Borges, who grew up in the industrial town of Taunton, Mass., moved to nearby Boston in the mid-1990s during the height of the city’s thriving indie rock scene. Inspired by bands such as Throwing Muses and Morphine, Borges began writing and performing her own songs, first as a solo artist, and then with a string of musicians, including members of her current band.

Borges’ 2005 debut “Silver City,” which was released on the Houston-based Blue Corn label, and The Broken Singles’ 2007 Sugar Hill follow-up “Diamonds in the Dark,” highlighted the quartet’s ability to meld a classic country vibe with the attitude of old-school alt-rock. For their third CD, last spring’s “The Stars Are Out,” the band ditched the pedal steel guitar altogether. The collection of five originals and five covers included a radically reworked “Being With You” by Smokey Robinson, the Magnetic Fields’ “No One Will Ever Love You,” and a lesser-known cut from the Evan Dando catalog, “Ride With Me.”

The change in musical direction helped “The Stars Are Out” sell more than the previous two albums and earned The Broken Singles a Best Emerging Artist nomination at the Americana Music Association festival in Nashville. Although the trophy went to Justin Townes Earle last September, the nomination gave the quartet a chance to perform on the hallowed Ryman Auditorium stage.

“There were so many legends in the house that night,” Borges says. “John Fogarty was there and Emmylou Harris. There’s something about the cumulative history of that room that just made it so much fun to do. Even though we didn’t win, it certainly was a memorable experience.”

The milestone has also inspired Borges to become better at her craft. She started co-writing for the first time with Freddy Johnson. One of three new songs the band debuted at the Lizard Lounge was a co-write with Johnson called “I’ve Got A Mind On Me.” She also recently sought the advice of long-time idol Marshall Crenshaw, recording another song at his home studio.

“I think I hit kind of an impasse,” Borges says. “I’ve been doing this long enough where I’m kind of tired of myself. I wanted someone else’s input not only about what I was doing but I wanted to see how someone else writes. I wanted to see if they go through the same emotions as I do – ‘It’s so dumb I can’t believe I just said that’ – and I realized everyone does. You just have to limit the self-editing.”

Borges has already begun writing songs for the band’s fourth studio album, which will be recorded sometime after their annual March appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. She also says that she’s no longer worried about translating their sound from the stage to the studio.

“Our first record took us by surprise and the second one we didn’t think about too much,” Borges says. “The third one we were very calculating because we were trying to expand our fan base a little bit. But I think we know ourselves well enough now that whatever comes out (on our next record) is going to be true. I just feel like whatever it is it will be good. It will sound like us.”

jbonfiglio@TheH-P.com