NeutralAxis

Every once in awhile I stop at the public library and pick out a CD from an artist I’ve heard nothing about.  My only guidance is the cover art and the genre printed on the label.  This week I found Miss Understood by Carolyn Wonderland on the shelf, labeled “Blues” and decided to give it a try.   Sometimes I make awful choices, and sometimes I find a gem.  This was a bit of a gem that still needed some polishing.

After listening to this CD for the first time, I came away with mixed feelings about it.  The problem was that it seemed like she didn’t know whether she wanted it to be blues, swing, or country.  After checking her website, I see that an eclectic style is typical of her song choices.  Her website says

“… she likes to incorporate elements of Blues, Country, Swing, Zydeco, Surf, Gospel, Soul, and some nights, maybe even a Cumbia into the musical mix.”

That’s exactly the problem in my opinion.  Eight of the twelve songs are really good.  They’re a little bluesy and a little rock with some really top notch guitar work.  Its the kind of music you’d expect to hear on a hot summer night at an outdoor barbecue festival.  The rest have a fairly traditional country sound that doesn’t interest me or they’re just a poor stylistic fit with everything else.  Ordinarily if I download songs, I download a whole album, but this is the exception to that.  I’d recommend skipping “Bad Girl Blues”, “Long Way To Go”, “The Farmer Song” and “Feed Me To The Lions”.

On the other hand, I kept expecting Willie Nelson to chime in with her on “I Don’t Want To Fall For You.”  Its slow, shuffling tempo would be a really good fit for Willie’s laid back country style.  Despite its country flavor, it didn’t feel out of place like the other country songs.  “Walk On” and “Still Alive and Well” would be my favorites, showing off her rock and blues guitar which is the real draw for me on this CD.

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