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Producer Stefan Lessard is reclined in the corner, a cigarette in his left hand, tapping at a PowerBook G3 with his right. devon's "Long Sleeve Story" is Stefan's first foray into production. In fact, it's the first time that he's done much of anything musically beyond playing bass with Dave Matthews Band.

Ryan Nicols (Everything, Dave Matthews Band) is the album's engineer.

The only other member of Dave Matthews Band to move beyond performing is Dave, who co-founded According To Our Records, a small label that jump-started the career of David Gray and recently signed Chris Whitley and Ben Kweller. Stefan's move is, if anything, bolder than Dave's: He's putting his musical reputation on the line, working hands-on with a little-known artist.

devon's first album is brief, at eight songs; all devon originals, and every one of them excellent. From the simple ballad "Montreal Waltz" to the angsty-but-honest "Survive Alone," the beautiful "New Song" to in-your-face "Appreciate Me," the album is a startlingly-excellent premiere from a girl with absolutely no professional music experience.

All too often, such stellar initial releases are the peak of a performer's musical careers; it's downhill from there. Sometimes they're "discovered" by a hot-shot producer who proceeds to ruin their sound. Sometimes they're discouraged by the inevitable low album sales, and never muster the energy to release any more. And sometimes they've simply offered up their best work, and nothing worthwhile remains. To see devon follow these all-too-common paths would be heartbreaking, given how much potential she has. Fortunately, it doesn't appear as though that will be a problem.

Nate Brown, the drummer for Everything, is laying down cymbals and toms for "Better at Night." We all have headphones on, listening to the song as the new track is added. Stefan, looking very serious, is studiously taking notes and nodding along to the music. Engineer Ryan Nichols adjusts knobs and clicks on his PowerBook, reacting to subtle changes in the audio. devon, on the other hand, appears largely unconcerned with the goings-on. Though this initially seems odd, I realize that this is a good thing. This means that she trusts Stefan to do his job of producing, of realizing her vision for the album. Later on, I ask devon about this.

"Giving somebody else creative control over your own music is very intimidating. [Stefan's] just very comfortable to work with. Even though he's just moving into the world of production, he seems to have a good, solid feel on what sounds good. He's moving into this vein that creates a very organic feel to the sessions. So we're all like 'sure, let's try clanking chains together,' or 'let's try scratching a record on there,' or...you know. It's very organic."

Drummer Nate Brown is better-known as the drummer and vocalist of Everything.

From what I'm hearing over these headphones, devon has every reason to trust Stefan: the music sounds fantastic. As this realization creeps into my head, a slow smile spreads across my face. I look up, and see that devon is smiling back at me.

I can't say that I got to hear a great deal of the album that night. "Better at Night" and "Birdfeeder" was the extent of my exposure. ("Better at Night," in particular, I heard over and over again.) Despite this, I'm excited about what I've heard. It definitely breaks new ground for devon. Her first album did an excellent job of capturing her music. "Long Sleeve Story" extends her guitar-and-vocals soloist style into something much deeper.

Stefan's first attempt at producing an album appears to have been a great success. He has pulled off a rare coup: he's managed to extend simple, honest music and turn it into something marketable, without losing any of the qualities that made it good in the first place. Will "Long-Sleeved Story" sell millions of copies, launch devon into international stardom, and prove to be The Next Big Thing? I have no idea. I do know that I'll buy a copy for myself. And maybe a couple to send to friends. And probably a few as gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

If everybody that bought a copy of her first album buys this many, then she'll do very well, indeed. And if more people do? Well, then I suspect devon will go from being The Next Big Thing to being, simply, The Big Thing.

nancies.org | May 22, 2001