Robyn Ludwick blew me away a few weeks ago, when I saw some of her concert footage on Youtube. To say that I dig her is a massive understatement.
Today I received a pre-release copy of her forthcoming record, Out of These Blues, which will make the world a better place on April 19, 2011.
The short answer is that this is the first must-buy record I’ve heard this year. My biggest gripe about most records in these digital days is the uneven quality of the songs. You generally get a couple of great ones, some decent ones and some filler. That’s not a problem on this record – there’s not an average song on it. They run from excellent to very, very good.
Listen to Hollywood, and you’ll see what I mean.
“She left me for Hollywood. Oh, don’t you know it feels so good. In Hollywood.” Awesome.
The title track has a timeless vibe, that would’ve been at home in the glory days of MP3.Com, when I discovered many of the alt. country bands I still listen to, or during the Gram Parsons-nurtured infancy of country rock. The best music, of any genre, has rural roots, but a harder, darker edge- like someone who came to country music via Macon, Georgia as opposed to Nashville. This record sounds like that.
New Orleans is a great song, with some excellent country noir lyrics. Cajun country, Springsteen’s Rosalita, Austin style.
Steady has a bluesy organ vibe that just boils with an early Lucinda-like passion. I’d love to hear Robyn cover Lucinda’s Side of the Road. Actually, she can sing whatever she wants. As long as I get a copy.
Fight Song may be the best alt. country torch song ever recorded. I Am may be the second best one. Can’t Go Back channels Guitar Town era Steve Earle. A fiddle led, danceable number that needs to be heard at Gruene Hall, after a day on the river.
Let’s recap. We have alt. country, rock, blues and country torch. I love the way this record so easily and effectively moves from country to blues to rock. The arrangements are excellent.
This one will clearly be a contender for my 2011 record of the year. Count the days, friends. April 19 will be here before you know it. Wake up early that morning and buy this record.
In the meantime, Robyn has two records you can buy at Amazon right now. For So Long and Too Much Desire. I bought them both, and they are also great records.
Newsome.Org 