Folksinger and straight ally Carrie Newcomer performs three concerts in Alaska this week, March 24-27, for her Before and After tour: Seldovia on Thursday, Anchorage on Saturday, and Palmer on Sunday. One of the many causes she has supported was a fundraising album for pastors who lost their jobs when they came out or were outed.

Whistling Swan is bringing her to Alaska:

“Praised by Billboard as a “soaring songstress,” Newcomer, a Quaker, has recorded music from her uniquely spiritual and poignant take on the world for three decades.”

From her bio:

“Carrie Newcomer is a rare breed of singer/songwriter: the kind who illuminates life with startling depth, humor and clarity. Her ability for sharp observation of the world lead the Dallas Morning News to rave, “She’s the kind of artist whose music makes you stop, think and then say, ‘that is so true’.” Mining what is true, Newcomer’s latest Rounder release, Before and After is a multi-layered work that invites the listener to slow down and reflect on the experiences that have changed and shaped our lives.”

In 2005, she contributed the song “Be True” to Out of the Extraordinary, “a compilation album project to raise visibility of the issue of ordination of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer (GLBTQ) pastors and raise funds for scholarships and debt relief for the GLBTQ pastors that have chosen to be or have been forced outside of the ELCA roster of pastors. Out of the Extraordinary features 14 songs that were genrously donated by artists and groups to support the vital work of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.”

Since then, the ELCA has approved changes to allow openly LGBTQ pastors and to reinstate those who had to leave.

“Be True” is from Regulars and Refugees, a CD where most of the songs describe a waitress and customers at the fictional Betty’s Diner, also the title of a previous album. Several reviewers mention that “Be True” is the story of a lesbian or gay priest who eats at the diner, one even names her as the “lesbian chaplain Olivia.” But there’s nothing in the song’s lyrics, as currently posted on Newcomer’s site [pdf], about a specifically LGBTQ character:

“Be True” from Regulars and Refugees

V: Love will ask you to stand, take you
Where you don’t think you can
Love calls and waits for an answer
Yes yes and be true

V: Love is best when it listens
Beware there is no compromise
Love calls and calls
And waits for an answer
Yes yes and be true

Ch: For a promise made is a promise given
A love like this cannot be hidden
Show me now where it’s written
Yes yes be true

V: Love will ask you to open your heart
And mind and not turn away
We’re all waiting to say
Yes yes be true

Ch: For a promise made is a promise given
A light as like this cannot be hidden
Show me now where it’s written
Yes yes be true

V: Love shines out like a beacon
I am just what I am I believe
Love is a land without borders
Yes yes be true

Ch: For a promise made is a promise given
I might be down but I’m not quittin’
Show me now where it’s written
Yes yes be true

Ch: For a promise made is a promise given
A light as like this cannot be hidden
Show me now where it’s written
Yes yes be true

Good song, and it would fit well on a CD dedicated to LGBTQ pastors. But I don’t know how the reviewer decided that it’s about a lesbian chaplain named Olivia!

In an interview last year titled Carrie Newcomer: Her Legacy of Peace through Music, she gave a politically supportive response to the following question:

TERRY: I heard you called If Not Now your first real folk song.

CARRIE: (laughs) Well, it’s my first sing-along. It’s a group song in the spirit of We Shall Overcome. It was written for a specific purpose. But, I hope it wouldn’t be for just one thing but would reach across to all kinds of issues that need our attention, like health care. When do we start taking care of the least of these. When do we give our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters full legal rights? It can be used in a variety of ways. It’s a song of hope.

Although I wouldn’t expect obvious LGBTQ content in Newcomer’s songs, her heart is in the right place and you won’t have to weed through anti-LGBTQ messages either. If you like mellow folk songs that tell personal stories with a broad spiritual message, go to the concert and enjoy.

Carrie Newcomer: Before and After tour dates for Alaska
Seldovia: Thursday 3/24 at the Susan B. English School Commons, 7:30 pm
Anchorage: Saturday 3/26 at the Snow Goose Theatre, 7:30 pm, $22 – $25 (with Anna Coogan opening)
Palmer: Sunday 3/27 at Vagabond Blues, 6 pm

Read her message about salmon and her visit to Sitka, Alaska: click here.

Watch her perform the title song, Before and After: