Some days this job just makes you shake your head. As in, what
\nis the world coming to when as unmistakable a talent as Deena
\nGoodman is self-publishing EPs instead of having her face plastered
\nacross a billboard high above Sunset Boulevard?<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s the whole Britney influence. After all, Goodman looks
\nless like the oversexed, underdressed skanks that “moral
\nvalues”-minded Middle America continues to worship than the quietly
\nintelligent young lady you might expect to find running the counter
\nat Kinko’s until she moves on to bigger things.<\/p>\n
Don’t be fooled by the shy-girl-in-the-corner album cover,
\nthough. Deena Goodman is without a doubt the best female blues
\nsinger I’ve heard since I picked up my first Susan Tedeschi disc.
\nShe’s a singer-songwriter who has chosen a genre and not just
\ngotten comfortable in it, but made it her own. And while
\nHard To Get To<\/i> only offers five songs, it already rates as
\none of the most enjoyable listens to show up in my mailbox this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The arrangements feature easy-glide blues guitar over organ and
\nelectric piano in support of Goodman’s rangy, consistently
\nappealing vocals. Opener “Hard To Get To” is a good example of how
\nshe folds and twists the basic blues framework to fit her
\nintentions, featuring a very contemporary, self-aware lyric while
\nlayering a lilting blues-rock melody over a chorus that begs the
\nlistener for a sing-along.<\/p>\n
The second cut, “Sometimes,” is the one that really blew me
\naway, though. How many Britney lookalikes could write a song with
\nthe steely self-awareness of a Bonnie Raitt confessional and the
\nclever wordplay of a Top Ten country single, and then sing it with
\nthe straight-from-the-gut passion of a young Tina Turner? No,
\nreally, it’s that impressive.<\/p>\n
The other three songs here — “Walking All Over,” “Too Damaged
\nTo Care” and “Your Rock” (the latter co-written by Spin Doctors
\nvocalist Chris Barron) — all shine in their own ways as they move
\nthrough a series of steady, appealing grooves. All five cuts are
\nco-written by Goodman and producer Mike Shimshack, and feature
\nright-on-the-money instrumental support from a crack studio team
\nthat includes Andy Hess (Gov’t Mule), Nir Z (John Mayer), Billy
\nStein (Boy George) and Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter). Stein’s
\nfluid organ work and Levine’s nimble, expressive guitar rate
\nspecial notice.<\/p>\n
What brought this all-star team together is obvious — they know
\ntalent when they hear it. Deena Goodman is a major find who’s just
\nwaiting for the world to wake up to her. Consider this your alarm
\nclock buzzing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7137],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38293","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-deena-goodman","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38293"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}