Painted Image

Singer/guitarist first tried her hand at songwriting as a young adult after studying up on a variety of 20th century American masters, including , , and . She found particular inspiration in the sounds of the Delta blues and Southern soul. On her full-length debut, , those influences shine through an eclectic retro-soul. With stops in Chicago and Atlanta along the way, the North Carolina native was drawn to Memphis, Tennessee to write and record the album, which was tracked at the historic Ardent, Royal, and Electraphonic Recording studios. "Hand to the Plow" and "Living Water" are examples of 's more musically nostalgic entries, with vintage organs, unaffected electric guitar tones, horns, harmonized backing vocalists, and old-school grooves supporting 's bluesy pop vocals. Elsewhere, "Love Feats" has a more contemporary blues-rock sound, and she lets loose on "Cold Baby," an exasperated soul ballad. On the latter, organ and strings emphasize 's vocal melody over swaying, arpeggiated triplets from the guitar. Later in the track list, the acoustic title song surprises with an atmospheric, drums-free arrangement that more closely resembles Celtic new age than soul or blues. Mercurial as it is in terms of stylistic influence and intensity, the album feels woven together by a modestly shifting shared palette, and lyrics full of yearning and awareness. Fans of 's debut, the EP, will recognize "Cold Baby" as well as "Body of Mine," but the other nine tracks make their recording debut here. ~ Marcy Donelson