Some days this job just makes you shake your head. As in, what
is the world coming to when as unmistakable a talent as Deena
Goodman is self-publishing EPs instead of having her face plastered
across a billboard high above Sunset Boulevard?
Maybe it’s the whole Britney influence. After all, Goodman looks
less like the oversexed, underdressed skanks that “moral
values”-minded Middle America continues to worship than the quietly
intelligent young lady you might expect to find running the counter
at Kinko’s until she moves on to bigger things.
Don’t be fooled by the shy-girl-in-the-corner album cover,
though. Deena Goodman is without a doubt the best female blues
singer I’ve heard since I picked up my first Susan Tedeschi disc.
She’s a singer-songwriter who has chosen a genre and not just
gotten comfortable in it, but made it her own. And while
Hard To Get To only offers five songs, it already rates as
one of the most enjoyable listens to show up in my mailbox this
year.
The arrangements feature easy-glide blues guitar over organ and
electric piano in support of Goodman’s rangy, consistently
appealing vocals. Opener “Hard To Get To” is a good example of how
she folds and twists the basic blues framework to fit her
intentions, featuring a very contemporary, self-aware lyric while
layering a lilting blues-rock melody over a chorus that begs the
listener for a sing-along.
The second cut, “Sometimes,” is the one that really blew me
away, though. How many Britney lookalikes could write a song with
the steely self-awareness of a Bonnie Raitt confessional and the
clever wordplay of a Top Ten country single, and then sing it with
the straight-from-the-gut passion of a young Tina Turner? No,
really, it’s that impressive.
The other three songs here — “Walking All Over,” “Too Damaged
To Care” and “Your Rock” (the latter co-written by Spin Doctors
vocalist Chris Barron) — all shine in their own ways as they move
through a series of steady, appealing grooves. All five cuts are
co-written by Goodman and producer Mike Shimshack, and feature
right-on-the-money instrumental support from a crack studio team
that includes Andy Hess (Gov’t Mule), Nir Z (John Mayer), Billy
Stein (Boy George) and Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter). Stein’s
fluid organ work and Levine’s nimble, expressive guitar rate
special notice.
What brought this all-star team together is obvious — they know
talent when they hear it. Deena Goodman is a major find who’s just
waiting for the world to wake up to her. Consider this your alarm
clock buzzing.
