Savannah Road is Brigitte DeMeyer's 6th album and the first I've heard of her. She is based In Nashville, having moved there from Southern California a few years ago and this album is very much southern blues rather than Californian sunshine.
The opening title track is laid back, slightly, ever so slightly swampy blues apparently inspired by Gregg Allman's Autobiography My Cross To Bear and yet it sounds full of yearning to be where ever the Savannah road leads her too. Hopefully it's to whomever she's singing Say You Will Be Mine to on the next song which is a nicely-plucked country blues love song. It sounds OK rather than special. Boy's got soul continues this pleasant, but nothing special opening to this album.
Then on track, 3 Please Believe Me, a very slow, heartfelt song the album really gets going for me. It is a wonderful love song full of yearning and Brigitte's vocals sound a lot like Bex Marshall as Will Kimbrough wrings plenty of emotion out of his guitar. Big Man's Shoes adds some woodwind and a jazzy edge to the blues and the results are really cool.
Conjure Woman has a droned opening as Will's guitar slowly comes in over very carefully sung vocals that have a slight grizzled edge to them, rather like the acoustic side of Sass Jordan. I hope the boy she wants to catch hears it and has his heart melted. Honey Hush is slow and lush, laid back and damn near horizontal but it works beautifully. Worker picks the pace up slowly like the heat might break soon and you might have a chance if you're on home ground to get some respite.
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Home Ground is all barely-there vocals and slow, carefully-picked guitar all about hoping to be back on home ground once more and from the sound of it that home ground is a long way off just yet.
Lightnin' Poor is a fabulous gospel blues with a choir of backing singers and Brigitte's voice is as smoky as can be in my ears. Damn can someone give her a "Hell yeah" or three. Simmer Right is a soup recipe set to a simmering and shimmering slow blues of a tasty soup with plenty of spice which makes me want a large bowl of whatever they are cooking up. Build me A Fire might be for the barbecue that follows that soup. But is actually about building that fire just in case it ever gets cold enough for them to need warming up a bit.
The album closes with another really slow cool blues on My Someday that has just enough need in the vocals to know that Brigitte means every word she sings.
Brigitte DeMayer online
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