Two ways to get to the roots of North American music.
Holly Hyatt has an earthy voice full of grit, and she uses it like she’s recording a Motown album here as she plays bass and sings with Brandon Smith/key, Clinton Swanson/woodwinds, Jon Burden/g, Steve Wilson/dr and guest Billy Mendoza/voc and Alan Black/dr. Her voice is full of sass on the funky title track, and with STAXY horns she stomps off “Get Funky” and “It’s Time For Love.” Some Nashville gospel is felt on “River Flows” and the folksy Sunday mood of “With You Now” and she can also sound vulnerable and intimate on “If I Called You.” A real heart full of soul.
Al Lerman sings with the grit of a hitchhiker, plays guitar and sax while blowing a nasty harp on this album with Alec Fraser/b, Lance Anderson/p-B3 and Chuck Keeping/dr. Morgan Davis adds his guitar to the sliding instrumental “Delta Stomp” that is a juke joint jumper. Lerman and company get swampy with a Roger Miller voiced “Down to the River” while going to Chicago’s South Side with some heavy harp and guitar on the wailing “You Think You Know Me.” He picks and grins on the boogalooing “”Everybody’s In The Mood” and a mix of Cajun and the blues create a rich gumbo on “Dirty Little Secret” and “Deep Ellum Blues.” This guy’s got some dirt under his nails!