New Berlin Vocalist Spins Modern, Classic into a CD
New Berlin Citizen
By Steve Van Dien
Contemporary timelessness.
Many folks would call that an oxymoron - a paradoxical saying that used two words with directly opposite definitions - jumbo shrimp for example.
But it's and accurate description of "Pax," and album by New Berlin singer Eileen Carr of traditional Latin hymns with synthesized, ultra-modern orchestrations.
"Pax," which is Latin for "peace, features such classic compositions as "Ave Maria," "Dona Nobis Pacem" and " Panis Angelicus."
Though definitely modern, the orchestrations enhance rather than detract from the worshipful atmosphere created by Carr's clear, warm alto and the backup voices, which include those of her daughter, Emily; son, Christian; and sister-in-law, Barbara.
Began Singing At 13
Carr began singing, she recalled as one of 13 kids in a close-knit, "very Catholic family."
"It was at the very end of the Latin Mass era," she explained. "So I grew up knowing all the Latin hymns."
It wasn't long before her exceptional voice began opening doors. While a student at Catholic Memorial High School back in the 1960's, she appeared in musicals at Elm Grove's Sunset Playhouse, as well as radio and TV commercials.
In fact, she did the original spot for Hall Chevrolet.
"I was like 16 when I did that, a thousand years ago," she laughed. Her budding talents won Carr a drama scholarship to Marquette University. Soon after that Carr joined a duo "Carr and Shebesta" and for the next 15 years, the duo played private parties and conventions across the United States, enjoying the excitement of live performing and earning a living in show business.
Raising Four Children
But as Carr's family grew, she decided to leave the grind, to spend as much time as possible with her four children.
"The kids I saw on the road either acted like they were 35 or uncontrollable," Carr said. "I wanted to raise mine right."
That pleasant routine was interrupted several years ago, when Carr was stricken with cancer.
But her powerful faith and loving family combined with topnotch medical treatment to defeat the disease.
In its wake, she decided to become a nursing assistant, a job that gave her a firsthand look at the ravages of illness and old age.
Those thoughts were on Carr's mind when she was driving back from a convention gig in Chicago with her friend and colleague, Terry Sweet, who owns Terry Sweet Studios in Wauwatosa.
"We were just talking, kicking ideas around," she said." "Terry said, 'If you had all the money you ever wanted what would you do?"
"I said, 'You know, I'd take the old Latin hymns and put them to modern sounds and make a CD.' "He said, 'That's a great idea."
For a while, though, it looked like Carr and Sweet's lack of funds would keep that promising idea from fruition.
But then Carr's father, John - an attorney who hasn't been slowed by either his age, or legal blindness - stepped in.
"He thought it was a great idea, too," Carr recalled. "I said, 'But Dad, I don't have the money.'
"He said, 'I do.'"
With John aboard as executive producer and Sweet as arranger and instrumentalist, the project took off
The response of listeners has been very gratifying, Carr said.
"People who've heard it have cried," she said.
A Family Effort
Having family members participate was especially rewarding for her. It's obvious that Carr's kids have turned out much, much better that those show business brats their parents used to encounter.
"As far as the family is concerned, this is the best thing I've ever done," she said.
She performed some songs from "Pax" at Catholic Memorial in a special service September 20th in honor of the mobile version of the Vietnam War Memorial that will be there.
That will feature another family connection. Carr noted that she lost a brother in Vietnam - and September 20th is his birthday.
"Everything is woven together," she said.