stacie collins - Blue Rose Records

STACIE COLLINS
New Album:
Cat.-No.:
Label:
Sometimes Ya Gotta…
BLU DP0522
Blue Rose Records
Sometimes Ya Gotta... is the title of Nashville's rockvoice STACIE COLLINS' new album and it doesn't need a
lot of imagination to know why it carries this title after getting just a short auditory impression - sometimes ya gotta
(rock out bad-ass), sometimes ya gotta (take the blues and nail it down to the floor), sometimes ya gotta (sing your
heart out and blow the harp like the devil) or simply: sometimes ya gotta (make such a fine record like this one)!
Yes, that is what it could be called, considering the qualities of this Powerhouse performer and her top of the line,
vigorous rocking studio-band. When it comes down to rich Roots Rock with southern Boogie, Blues and some
country influences, Stacy Collins is already a well known name in the States, with Sometimes Ya Gotta… she is
about to conquer the Rock'n Roll hearts in Europe by storm as well!
Ever since being a kid Stacie wanted to become a singer, but only when she met her now husband, the musician Al
Collins (bass player with Jason & the Scorchers) something like a real music career was beginning to form. When
they got together in the 90's, she says that she couldn't write songs, sing or even play the Blues Harp. But he
encouraged her to go her own way and ambitiously work on her goals and dreams. So she did and on her self-titled
debut record, released 2000, Stacie already had quite something to show for. At that time the couple was still living
in Cleveland, Ohio and the music, by the way, even back then Collins/Collins material, had a strong county
character, somewhat like an Emmylou Harris up to a Kelly Willis. This changed in the following years right along
with their move to Nashville. The new focus became Southern Roots Rock with blends of Blues, Boogie, Rock'n Roll,
Country Rock and - to use the all-embracing term - the ruff and dirty side of Americana! The Lucky Spot was the
title of her second venture, released in 2007, and it was clear to see that Stacie Collins has developed not only into
an upright rock lady with tremendous shouter qualities but also cultivated her sharp-edged play on the harp and
refined the songwriting with her husband. Quite helpful for the new rough & rowdy-rocky sound was the connection
to one of the most popular guitarist/producers in town, Dan Baird. Who of course is known for eternity as leader
of the legendary Georgia Satellites in rock music history, as solo musician with several bands and partner of Eric
Ambel, Keith Christopher and Terry Anderson with the Yayhoos, and above all that has produced and accompanied
many acts like Chris Knight, Blue Mountain, Will Hoge and - Jason & The Scorchers! His friendship to the
Scorchers Al Collins and Warner E. Hodges led after The Lucky Spot to three more joint projects: Centerline,
Hodges only solo album (2008), Halcyon Times, the fabulous JATS comeback album, also released on Blue Rose in
the beginning of 2010, and Sometimes Ya Gotta..., which we are talking about.
Baird, Hodges und sogar noch ein dritter Gitarrist, Eric "EBO" Borash (Radney Foster, Jack Ingram), stehen hier
für den speziell rockenden Saitensound, alle drei sind Meister auf ihren Instrumenten, wobei Borash zusätzlich die
Einsätze an Lap Steel und Slide Guitar erhält, Dan Baird auch mal Bass spielt, wenn Al Collins zwischendurch zur
Gitarre wechselt. Collins und Drummer Jimmy Lester (Webb Wilder, Los Straitjackets, Billy Joe Shaver)
komplettieren das Basis-Lineup, der erfahrene Studiokeyboarder Michael Webb (Brooklyn Cowboys, Mark
Germino & The Sluggers, Allison Moorer) ergänzt die Arrangements manchmal um ein paar Piano-, Orgel- oder
Akkordionparts, die Singer/Songwriter-Kollegin Jonelle Mosser singt Background Vocals, Baird persönlich hat die
Sessions produziert. Da weiß man dann, wie das Ergebnis klingt: laut, riffig, rockig, bad-ass Boogie!
And Stacy Collins? She sings, screams, gospels like she is trying to save her soul, playing more than half of the songs
on her blues harp right along with it to where the sound can be heard beyond the Mississippi and some of the old
studio cracks get put in the shade, wrote all songs with her husband and partially composed with co-writers like
Tommy Womack, Warner E. Hodges and Charlie Moore. There a some real killer tracks like the rumbling bold
opener 'Hey Mister', 'I Won't Do You Like That', which can't seem to decide if it wants to be more "Stones", more
"Faces" or rather "Black Crowes", the slow and swampy 'A Good Man', or 'Give It Up' that comes along like a better
ZZ-Top stomper with some mean and dirty girl vocals. Even if Country Rock is something Stacie rarely doesn't do
anymore she clearly stands to her country roots connections. On "Carry Me Away" we can hear the distinctive
country influence, not just due to the intense accordion component that has the Cajun state feeling, on the bayouhumid Trance-Blues "Cool" as well as on the only two songs that fall into the acoustic section, 'Little Things', an
easy flowing ballad with beautiful harmony vocals and a light and sweet chorus that temps to hum along, and 'It
Hurts To Breathe', - a big country hymn after all that should make it to the top of every Americana and Alt. Country
chart in the world! All thumbs up!!
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