Aug
30
2007
Grace has it all; great looks (without the baggage of Chan Marshall) and charisma, a killer voice, great songwriting ability, and a first class backing band. Guitarist Scott Tournet is especially strong. I hope both Grace, and the band realize how good they have it with each other as a unit. They built a loyal following with relentless touring and internet word of mouth. A number of their live shows are available on Internet Archive that show the bands versatility in concert. The new CD has faster songs, slower songs and slower songs that become faster songs. The disc opens with "Ah, Mary," a slow building rocker. The next cut "Stop the Bus" sounds very much like Aimee Mann and shows that life on the road with Grace might be pretty fun, as she sings "Stop the bus and turn the radio up high, and grab the first guitar you see". Another great song is "Ain’t No Time" featuring Grace on Hammond B-3. The final tune "Big White Gate" tells the song of an elderly woman looking for redemption before she leaves this world. She sings, "Saint Peter won’t you open up the big white gate, cause I heard about forgiveness and I hope its not too late." GMA featured her in their "Up and Coming Artists" series. This group is not up and coming, they’re there! Selfishly I just hope TOO many people don’t find out! This is easily my favorite new cd of the year. I think you’ll like it too!
Aug
27
2007
Gill definitely has musical ability, playing acoustic, electric and resophonic guitars well on this album, and the ability to play other instruments. His rich voice echoes influences of Dylan, Waits or Stan Ridgeway. I didn’t quite understand the "story" of Lawless Soirez. He seems to be telling a story throughout the album, but to a new listener of his music, I couldn’t follow it very well. In any case, he doesn’t seem very happy, with dark songs like "Loneliness", "Ugly Town" and "Mutiny" on the album. He also incorporates many instruments on the album, some of the pairings seeming odd with the lyrics. Lawless Soirez sounds like a Herb Albert tune with it’s latin sounding horn section, while other songs have a Dixieland Jazz feel to them. My favorite song on the album is "Coal Black Heaven". I hear a talented musician in Gill Landry, but I imagine fans of his previous work will enjoy the album more than I did.