1 	Not Alone 	
2 	Pretend We Never Met 	
3 	When Something Is Wrong 	
4 	Pour The Sugar Slowly 	
5 	Bottom Of A Heart 	
6 	Fool Moon 	
7 	Bury The Hatchet 	
8 	Unraveling 	
9 	Bitter Water 	
10 	Ain't Nobody 	
11 	Black Pearl 	

Renee Austin - Lead Vocals
Kevin Bowe - Choir/Chorus, Guitars, Backing Vocals  
Andy Dee - Slide Guitar
Paul Diethelm - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm) 
Dave Jensen - Trumpet 
Bruce McCabe - Choir/Chorus, Clavinet, Piano
Delbert McClinton - Vocals 
Dik Shopteau - Bass, Choir/Chorus
Billy Thommes - Choir/Chorus, Drums, Percussion 
Jeff Victor 	Organ, Piano (Electric) 
Cynthia Johnson, Daryl Burgess, Joanna Cotten - Backing Vocals 

This Texas by way of Minneapolis blues/jazz/soul belter's first nationally available disc made a substantial impression out of the box in late 2003. It received major press attention and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Best New Artist Debut award. Even a cursory listen shows why. Austin's tough, husky growl can be as gutsy as Tina Turner or as tender as Maria Muldaur. Although her stunning duet with Delbert McClinton on "Pretend We Never Met" is one of the album's obvious highlights, it's by no means the only striking track. The soulful "When Something Is Wrong" recalls Ann Peebles' Hi label work and Austin gets downright nasty on the grinding sexy funk-rock of "Pour the Sugar Slowly." Incorrectly pigeonholed strictly as a blues artist (probably due to her Blind Pig label affiliation), Austin is closer to a classic R&B vocalist in the tradition of Etta James and Turner. Also impressive is that the multi-talented musician -- who plays guitar and piano live -- was responsible for penning all but four of these tunes, an unusual accomplishment for a female singer. Her writing is sharp and diverse as she shifts gears from the gospel fervor of "Bottom of a Heart" to "Fool Moon"'s bluesy jazz lounge mood, just two songs that display her impressive range. Far from scattershot, Austin's talented band and the disc's smart pacing display her strengths without sounding as if she's giddily jumping genres. Like McClinton -- an obvious role model -- her presence is so powerful that she's comfortable in a variety of grooves and, at least on the basis of this album, succeeds at all of them. ---Hal Horowitz, AllMusic Review

Born in Southern California, raised in the Central Texas Hill Country, based in Minneapolis, Renee Austin has a rangy, rootsy voice that glides from raspy to crystal clear to southern slurry while echoing foremothers such as Janis Joplin, Lou Ann Barton and Toni Price. Her phrasing is most reminiscent of Delbert McClinton, who has pulled strings to help launch her career; he duets with her to great effect here on "Pretend We Never Met". Ostensibly a blues singer, Austin is really more of genre-buster like Delbert himself, alchemizing a variety of blues, R&B, soul and gospel styles while giving it all a country flavor. There are some attention-grabbing moments here among the sweet ballads ("When Something Is Wrong"), soul workouts ("Pour The Sugar Slowly"), gospelesque stomps ("Bottom Of A Heart"), late-night loungey fare ("Fool Moon") and upstart rockers ("Bury The Hatchet", arguably the best song on the disc). But there's something missing, too. For someone with such a pyrotechnical voice, Austin sings with considerable restraint -- even her screams are harnessed -- and the band is likewise precise, controlled and metronomic. They could all stand to cut loose now and again, so they sound less like a well-constructed session entity and more like a real band (it's telling that she names her road band members in the notes and none of them appear on the record). The sound adheres to the title phrase a little too closely, when her style would probably be better served by more sweat and spontaneity. But there's no denying the potential revealed on this debut. ---John Morthland, nodepression.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back

01. Mouth of The Delta
02. Harder Than It Has To Be
03. Right About Love
04. U-Haul		play
05. Thank You Card
06. Meant To Be
07. Strangers On A Train
08. Bugs		play
09. Chicken Coop
10. That's Alright
11. Mister Cowboy

Personnel:
Renee Austin (vocals, acoustic guitar)
Renee Austin, Bruce McCabe (piano, electric piano, Clavinet, keyboards)
Jeff Victor (electric piano, organ, keyboards)
Dik Shopteau (bass instrument)
Cynthia Johnson (background vocals)
Kevin Bowe (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, percussion)
David Grissom (acoustic guitar)
Paul Diethelm (electric guitar)
Andy Dee (slide guitar, lap steel guitar)
Joe T. Cook (harmonica)
Billy Thommes (drums)

Guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and powerhouse singer Reneé Austin calls her mix of rocking R&B, blues, and country "roadhouse soul," and it's an apt description of the energy and passion she brings to the table. She's been marketed as a blues singer, which is unfortunate, in a way, since her driving live show brings her closer to someone like Tina Turner, adept at bringing a gospel intensity to material that is really more hard-rocking country-soul than it is blues. On Right About Love, her third release, Austin continues to deliver the electricity that made her previous albums so striking, and it should be noted that she wrote most of the material here, including the fine opening track, "Mouth of the Delta," and the soul-searching title tune, "Right About Love." She covers Bobbie Gentry's "Bugs," as well, and it's a telling choice, since Gentry ended up similarly trapped between genres, part country and part pop, when in retrospect, she was really doing a kind of intelligent and gothic version of Southern soul. Austin isn't quite in Gentry's league as a writer yet, but if she continues to graft Bobbie Gentry-like detail to that powerful, hoarse Tina Turner-like voice, as she does here with "Mouth of the Delta," her energetic mix of country, soul, and blues should find -- if the world is at all fair and balanced -- an audience similar to the one that an artist like Bonnie Raitt enjoys. ---Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire uloz.to gett

back