This column is devoted to reviews of performers who leave it
all on the stage. Some of them front bands, but they don't need a lot of fancy
tricks; they just air it out. (Ellis
Paul is one of my all-time favorites. No one ever leaves one of his shows
thinking he mailed it in!)
Debra Devi is a
sometimes yoga teacher, but when she straps on her Fender the New Jersey-based
Devi is like a demon on the Garden State Parkway. Her debut release Get
Free makes me wonder where she's been all my life. She's not blessed
with a naturally big voice, but damned if that's going to stop her. Devi claims
that the feedback on the Credence Clearwater classic "Suzie Q"
inspired her to play guitar. Get that? The feedback.
Check out tracks like "All I Need" and her gritty cover of
"Runaway." to hear Devi slam straight ahead rock, her muscular guitar
and stretch-it-to-the limits voice cutting across the percussion, bass, and
keys. Somewhere along the line she also picked up some acid rock influences. On
"Another Day" she's like a Fillmore East refugee. After a slow build
on "Love That Lasts," she again lets loose with a spray of
psychedelic colors. Punk rock gets its due on "Demon in the Sack."
Want some attitude? Try this line: There's
no such thing as too much sex. She fuzzes out some more on 02H23NO3, a song
about a junkie. She also does a killer cover of Neil Young's "Needle andthe Damage Done" in which she adds electric echoes and a rock n' roll
treatment that simultaneously makes it harder and more haunting. Her own
"Get Free," though an unorthodox musing on playing guitar and
yoga-centric clearness, also has a dreamy and opening run that reminds me a bit
of Young's "Down By the River." Devi can also dial it down when needed, as she does in
"Welcome to the Boneyard" or "When It Comes Down." Both of
those songs also show how to make a small voice big. Devi has drawn PJ Harvey
and Sheryl Crow comparisons, but her natural voice is closer to that of Parry
Griffin, who also knows a few things about when to be soft and when to go large.
Devi is forging her own path and it's one you'd be wise to follow. Hearing this
record made me chuckle to imagine Devi as a yoga teacher. Talk about Jekyll and
Hyde! Terrific stuff. This Jersey girl wields a mean guitar. ★★★★★ #DebraDevi
Let's stay in
the same general neck of the Metro woods for a moment. When you make your
musical debut at age 50, as Roger Street
Friedman did, you'd better give it all you've got. At 54, the Long
Island-based Friedman is back with a second album, the aptly titled Shoot
the Moon. Friedman draws comparisons to Bruce Cockburn and Colin Hay.
I'd give a voice nod more to the latter, which we can particularly hear on
tracks such as "Gentle Love of a Mother" and "Hideaway,"
especially the second with its slight hint of a rasp. All comparisons aside,
Friedman is his own man and there's lots of diversity on this record. Several
tracks employ a brass rhythm section. "Puffs of Smoke" has smoking
horns, an R & B groove, and a downhill slide POV: Dreams they come and dreams they go/Just like puffs of smoke. The
brass also gets a workout on the title track, which mixes funk and blues with
the smoothness of a late night TV house band. Yet Friedman also likes to talk a
walk on the alt-country side of things. "Pour Me Another" is
Borderlands country, right down to the horns splashing just a few drops of
mariachi to supplement lyrical references to margaritas. "Nothin's Worth
Nothin'" is acoustic country folk about a lost soul, and "No SafePlace" lets loose a tidal wave of the down-and-outs: It's a livin' hell in my native town/They will rob you blind, they will
cut you down/For one thin dime they will draw your blood/Been so much spilled
it's a constant flood. Good stuff from start to finish, one that also makes
musical detours into folk and pop, and makes a side tip to New Orleans. Let's
also give a shout out to the fiddle and backing vocals work of Concetta Abatte.
Speaking of backing vocals, one of them on the title track belongs to Amy Helm.
Yep—Levon's daughter. ★★★★
Speaking of Levon, Tracy
Bonham has a new EP titled Live at Levon Helm's Studios. For
those who don't know, those studios are located in Woodstock, New York, and
some of the proceeds of this project will aid the town library. Tracy Bonham
was born in Boston, raised in Oregon, and knows about letting loose on stage.
Not only is she a Berklee College of Music grad, she's also a former member of
the Blue Man Group. That helps explain why "Devil's Got YourBoyfriend" has dramatic flair and an ominous tone that sounds straight out
of "Sweeney Todd." Bonham, though, is a woman of many talents and
moods. "Oh, McKenzie's Silver Waters" is a bit like what Emmy Lou
might do with a song from the great Northwest. All of the songs are mined from
Bonham's back catalog, and each highlights her versatility. "Tell It to
the Sky" comes from her grunge period, with its fuzzy bass the only
accompaniment to Bonham's voice until the song segues into something that
skirts the borders of cacophony. But then there's Bonham fronting a band on
"Lucky," and soloing on piano on the torchy, but poignant "Whether YouFall." There's a reason why she's a perennial favorite on this blog. ★★★★ #tracy_bonham
Rob Weir
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