TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute surprised Christina Blust.
Fresh out of Xavier University, her degree in graphic design landed Blust a job just outside the city. She didn’t know what to expect at her new workplace, a convent known as the Sisters of Providence in the nearby village of St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She wondered if the oft-maligned Terre Haute held any outlets for her artistic and musical interests.
Three years later, Blust still lives and works here. This month, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter released her debut album, “Sudden Amaryllis.”
She discovered an energetic, talented arts and music community. The sisters proved to be a vibrant, witty group of women. And this small, Midwestern city turned out to be friendly.
“Once I saw the faces and saw the common ground, I found more of a community of people,” Blust said, “and not one of people just driving around and not paying attention to each other.
“There’s an honesty here,” she added.
The Wabash Valley flows through her 14-song album, with lyrical tributaries stretching to Iraq, her hometown of Dayton, Ky., and other points in between. The tracks depict images seen through Blust’s eyes, usually framed by black spectacles.
The song “Cradle” exemplifies the seriousness of her poetic lyrics. Blust wrote it after her art history class heard about libraries and museums being destroyed during the Iraq war. “The libraries of Mesopotamia burn, so does the body of a country,” she sings.
On “Tumor,” Blust challenges cancer, a disease that struck her mother and sister within one week. She tells the invasive illness, in the song, that is has mistaken its status, and that “you will not spread; you will die for love instead.”
“It’s one of the most personal songs that I’ve written. I wrote it for myself, I think,” Blust explained, “and then it started to resonate with others, rather unexpectedly.”
Her songs resonated, rather unexpectedly, with a pair of astute music aficionados during an open-mic night a few years ago at The Coffee Grounds in Terre Haute. As Dave Goodier and Don Arney sat listening, Blust took her turn, guitar in hand, strumming and singing her original music. “We noticed almost immediately that she had extremely intelligent lyrics, and, not to mention, quite catchy tunes,” Goodier recalled.
He told Arney, a veteran of nearly 30 years as a producer of local artists, “We’ve got to record this girl.”
The process of creating “Sudden Amaryllis” began soon afterward. At the outset, Blust’s sound was essentially a young woman and her folk guitar. Arney, who maintains Quantum Productions Studio in his southern Vigo County home, began assembling a corps of Terre Haute musicians to expand the arrangements of Blust’s songs. They came from bands Arney and Goodier have worked with in the past, including Cuba, Native Mind and Derailed.
“We were able to hand-pick musicians, like we were in Nashville or something,” said Goodier, who co-produced the album with Arney and Blust.
Working with a band was a new experience for Blust. “The songs are still there,” Arney said, “but the transformation is amazing.
“I think it’s an amazing album,” he added. “First, she’s got a wonderful voice, and you add to that some really substantial songwriting ability, and that’s a combination that’s really hard to beat.”
Blust began writing the music that became “Sudden Amaryllis” in 2005, and that process continued as she moved from the Cincinnati area to Terre Haute, as she started working in the Sisters of Providence Volunteer Mission in 2006, and as she began recording the album with Arney, Goodier and the Terre Haute guitarists and percussionists in January 2007.
“The songs that ended up on the album are about time, and meeting people, and the places you go, and how none of us can avoid being changed by that,” she said.
The sisters affected Blust, and her sound.
“When I landed in a convent in Terre Haute, I didn’t know what to expect,” she recalled.
Though Blust was raised Catholic, she had little exposure to nuns. But she quickly learned “just how fun they are, and how interestingly they look at the world. It’s really just a fun place, and an exciting time to be here.”
The photographs adorning the CD’s jacket show Blust resting in a shady spot of grass, beneath large trees, on a sunny day near the cemetery at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. That resting place surfaces in the disc’s ninth track, “Providence,” where “yesterday watches you smile, and every word is providence.”
Terre Haute, The Woods and the local people play roles in Blust’s writing.
“I feel like I’m directly influenced — transparently and almost embarrassingly — by what’s around me,” she said.
That connection led to an album whose genre is best described, Goodier said, as “librarian rock. It’s got such intelligent lyrics, but it’s still rock.”
Its artful emphasis runs from the succinct lyrics and understated arrangements to the intricate jacket design. The disc was released independently — without financial support from a record label — on Oct. 17, yet has the look and feel of a top-shelf, retail offering. Blust is less concerned with mass appeal than sparking the spirits of those who hear her songs, even if that’s limited to the Terre Haute community and online visitors to her Web site — www.christinablust.com.
“I have no aspirations of being a star or famous,” she said, “but I would like something I create to mean something to other people.”
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Finding a copy
“Sudden Amaryllis,” the new album by Terre Haute singer-songwriter Christina Blust, is available for digital download purchase at Digstation. The 14-song CD can be purchased through www.christinablust.com.
Coming up
The words adorning the 14 songs on Terre Haute singer-songwriter Christina Blust’s first full-length album transcend mere lyrics. Read more of Mark Bennett’s review of Blust’s work on Friday in Sites & Sounds.
Features
Musician’s Wabash Valley influences flow through her debut album
- Features
-
-
VIDEO: On the Banks of the Wabash far away …
Paul Dresser left Terre Haute a niche in history.
Opportunism, squabbling and fading memories gradually washed that gift away, like the unending flow of the Wabash River he immortalized in song.
-
Story of homeland foundation of vocal group
Since their earliest recordings and performances, the South African-based Grammy Award-winning male a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as individuals and as a group, have maintained a respect and a reverence for their past.
-
Original copy of 13th Amendment at Lincoln Library & Museum
A fully signed and recently restored copy of the Congressional resolution for a 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the official act that would abolish slavery in the United States, will be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
-
RCAA member presents ‘Waterfalls’ at Vigo Library
February brings a stunning exhibit of waterfalls by photographer Spencer Young to the Vigo County Public Library in Terre Haute.
-
River Wools’ Stitch Red/Wear Red part of First Friday events
Downtown Terre Haute’s First Friday is a monthly evening that encourages collaboration among downtown merchants, museums, galleries, and university and commercial venues.
- Nightlife: Feb. 2, 2012
-
Swope kicks off anniversary with ‘Reflecting’ exhibit
Swope Art Museum will kick off its 70th anniversary by hosting the exhibition, “Reflecting Terre Haute,” Friday through March 10 in the Haslem and Hodge galleries.
-
Indiana Cage Fighting to hit Terre Haute on Feb. 18
Indiana Cage Fighting “Redemption” comes to Terre Haute on Feb. 18.
- COMMUNITY: Feb. 2, 2012
-
Concert to feature unusual pieces for trombone
Indiana State University music faculty member Randy Mitchell will perform at 7:30 p.m. today in the Recital Hall of the Landini Center for Performing and Fine Arts at Seventh and Chestnut streets.
-
Harlan Hall offers up dinner, comedy show on Valentine’s Day
The Harlan Hall Entertainment Committee is planning a fun and economical way to spend Valentine’s Day.
- Theater: Feb. 2, 2012
- Book signings: Feb. 2, 2012
- Museums and Exhibitions: Feb. 2, 2012
-
‘Box Car Millionaire’ author to give talk, sign books in March at ISU
Tom Black, author of “Box Car Millionaire” and proclaimed “America’s Greatest Sales Trainer,” will speak March 27 in Terre Haute.
- Bingo: Feb. 2, 2012
- Dance lessons: Feb. 2, 2012
- KARAOKE: Feb. 2, 2012
-
Old Post Bluegrass Jam coming up
The 12th Annual Old Post Bluegrass Jam will be Feb. 12 at Vincennes University’s Beckes Student Union.
-
Rockville prison series ‘Breaking Down the Bars’ receives award
44 Blue Productions and the Oprah Winfrey Network have received the American Correctional Association’s 2012 Outstanding Journalism Award for the documentary series “Breaking Down the Bars.”
-
Audition for Beef & Boards’ ‘Music Man,’ Wizard of Oz’ productions
Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre will host auditions for young performers in March.
-
Sinfonietta’s ‘The Gift’ celebrates Black History Month
The Sinfonietta Pops Orchestra will perform “The Gift,” a concert celebrating Black History Month through music at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the Cecilian Auditorium at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College.
-
Born to perform: Terre Haute South senior to sing in Carnegie Hall
Soon, the domed ceiling of Carnegie Hall and the archway in the Hayes family kitchen will share a special connection.
-
Expectations ramp up for Church on way to top
It was opening night for the 2012 portion of Eric Church’s Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour.
-
Concert Pre-Party at Bally features Nashville artists
Looking for something to do before the Eric Church concert Saturday night?
- Nightlife: Jan. 26, 2012
-
Vincennes’ Festival du Mardi Gras keeps traditions alive
First Families, the heritage education outreach of Grouseland Foundation, is teaming up with the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society to expand the 6th annual Vincennes Festival du Mardi Gras to a two-night event on Feb. 17-18.
- Concerts: Jan. 26, 2012
-
New Arts Corridor banners now hanging downtown
Arts Spaces Inc. recently worked with ISU’s Energize Downtown on a contest for a new banner design for the Arts Corridor.
-
Indiana State’s Masterworks Chorale seeking vocalists
Indiana State University’s Masterworks Chorale is looking for vocalists who love music and are interested in performing.
- More Features Headlines
-
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Romney Congratulates Santorum, Focuses on Obama
Eastwood in Super Bowl Ad 'Compassionate'
Greek Leaders Seek Deal As Bankruptcy Looms
Raw Video: Giants Celebrate Another Super Bowl
Cab Driver Helps Wis. Family Escape House Fire
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Bernanke: Recovery Depends on Consumer Spending
Stranded Fishermen Rescued From Bay of Green Bay
Paul Says Results Help Him Rack Up Delegates
Foreclosures Down 34 Percent in 2011
Eastwood in Super Bowl Ad 'Compassionate'
The NY Giants Defend Gisele
Mo. Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing Girl, 9
Beyonce Is Sexy in Sequins
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Model's Shocking 20-Inch Waist
Better than Tebowing, it's Bradying - 2/7
Maria Menounos in Giants Bikini After Losing Bet
Zip-Lining Man Slams Into Tree
TLC's 'Strangest Addictions Yet'?
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Snooki Admits She's Bisexual
Katharine McPhee Strips Down
Raw Video: 15 Lb. Baby Born in China
Ellen DeGeneres Slams One Million Moms
Vending Machine Dispenses 'Morning-After' Pill
Rihanna in Super Sheer Bodysuit
Entire staff removed at L.A. elementary school
Exclusive: Giants Players Talk About Excitement Around 2012 Super Bowl Victory Parade
