Catie Curtis - Sweet Life CD

Sweet Life CD music An IDENTITY CRISIS for Shelby Lynne is no big surprise, considering that she began her career as the jazziest singer in Nashville, with predictably uncommercial results. Her previous two albums found Lynne making her bid for Sheryl Crow/Shawn Colvin-style pop stardom with big production and pop-rock aesthetics. This time around, she's producing herself, and the arrangements tend toward the opposite extreme; a bare-bones format with the rhythm section working around Lynne's voice and her (mostly acoustic) guitar. Whether Lynne is reclaiming her own identity or simply working with a smaller budget in the wake of disappointing sales figures, the change is a welcome one. The songs feel earthier, rootsier, ...

Sweet Life songs Shelby Lynne's 2003 album, IDENTITY CRISIS, was aptly named, as it saw Lynne move away from a big, lush, commercial radio-geared style to an earthier, stripped-down persona. SUIT YOURSELF takes this approach and runs with it, often sounding more like an impromptu late-night New York City singer/songwriter jam session than a product of the Nashville machine. Lynne's jazzy, loose vocal phrasing is in full effect, and her timbre is a bit huskier than before (perhaps due to the cigarettes she's seen holding in some of the album's photos). Many of the songs here have little to do with country music at all, from the opener "Go with It," which sounds like a cross between Badfinger and NO SECRETS-era Carly Simon, ...

Sweet Life CD music  

Sweet Life album for sale Only Linda Thompson's third solo album in 25 years since splitting with her former husband and musical partner Richard Thompson, VERSATILE HEART picks up almost exactly where 2002's FASHIONABLY LATE left off. Like its predecessor, VERSATILE HEART showcases the talents of Richard and Linda's son, singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson, who co-wrote and co-produced several songs, including the simple folky instrumental, "Stay Bright," that both opens and closes the album. Other guests include daughter Kamila Thompson (who contributes the slinky "Nice Cars"), Antony of Antony and the Johnsons (Thompson's duet partner on a magical rendition of Rufus Wainwright's "Beauty"), and violinist Eliza Carthy. Highlights include a moving cover of Tom Waits's "The Day After Tomorrow," the sly rockabilly tune "Do Your Best ...

Sweet Life buy CD music Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, background vocals); Andrew Mazzone (bass); Billy Conaway (drums, percussion); Billy Beard (drums); Kris Delmhorst (background vocals). There's something so honest about folk rocker Catie Curtis' voice. It's full of life and is the kind of voice that comes from someone who doesn't exist, but rather lives. The product of Curtis' life thus far is served up on her soulful fourth set, My Shirt Looks Good on You, a winning and driven folk-rock collection that explores ...

Sweet Life album for sale It's hard to imagine anyone with even the slightest tolerance for rootsy singer/songwriter rock & roll not falling immediately under the spell of Catie Curtis, a Boston-based artist whose albums and live performances have been building her a substantial regional and national following over the past 15 years. Her fifth album is, thankfully, nothing substantially new: just a solid program of sturdy, sometimes anthemic, and occasionally darkly cathartic songs that chug along with the help of acoustic and electric guitars, the occasional Hammond organ or accordion, tasteful drums, and even a rhythm loop or two. Curtis is starting to rely a bit too much on one particular yodelly vocal trick, but other than that, her voice and delivery are perfectly suited to the material: on songs like "Hold On," "Saint Lucy," and a deeply affecting cover of the late Mark Sandman's "Night," she hits all the notes just right while making it sound as if she's not really trying to hit the notes at all. "Cross Over to Me," which Curtis wrote in collaboration with Beth Nielsen Chapman, is an artful expression of romantic yearning, and "Doctor" is an artless expression of dissatisfaction with a cruel world. All in all, this is a solid and satisfying effort from one of the folk-rock scene's more impressive singer/songwriters. ~ Rick Anderson Recorded at Playtime Studios, Boston, Massachusetts. Personnel: Catie Curtis (vocals, acoustic guitar); Kevin Barry (acoustic & electric guitars); Russell Chudnofsky (electric guitar); Jimmy Ryan (mandolin); Stephanie Winters (cello); Julie Wolf (accordion, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammomd B-3 organ, keyboards); Jeff Berlin (drums, percussion); Billy Conway (drums); Deb Talan, Mark Erelli, Jennifer Kimball, Trina Shoemaker, Kris Delmhorst (background vocals). Producers: Trina Shoemaker, Tome Dube, Catie Curtis.