Lara Price – Half & Half
There have been female powerhouse blues-oriented vocalists through the decades. The most pre-rock notable was Big Mama Thornton. But during the rock era, it’s Janis Joplin along with Janis the durable Genya Ravan (Ten Wheel Drive), Candy Givens (Zephyr), Karen Lawrence (1994 & Blue By Nature), Brenda Patterson & Evie Sands. Occasionally, a young singer (Josh Stone) would sneak through with a definitive style & approach. This is where Lara Price may have found her spotlight as well. Lara sounds like a descendant of those earlier women but doesn’t sound like them.
This set has shining moments on lead guitar, soulful delicacies & brass pokes. All mixed within a high-tech spirited showcase with primitive savviness. You can hear the stadium quality yet, there’s also the older richness of where 75 people with a two-drink minimum huddle in juke joint smoke & beer fumes.
This 10-track label debut by Austin, Texas singer Lara Price, produced by Kid Andersen (drums/bass/keys/guitar/claps) reflects her work through covers in Half & Half (Drops June 21/Gulf Coast Records/37:17). Lara doesn’t forget that even though the focus is on her strong rollicking vocal the songs need melody, direction & themes. And they do. While the first 2 are incendiary performances it’s “Fools Like Me,” that detonates.
It’s an ambitious musical surge (with even a Duke Ellington jazzy number “Solitude”). Each piece has its hard-swinging moments, though hot in spots they’re carved deep. Lara adds the personality each tune requires to be an arresting blend of soul, blues, funk & a touch of jazz. Her intonation is riveting (“The Way Love Goes”). She knows what words need fat & sugar & which should be buttered up.
“Things Ain’t Everything,” is steeped in a Muscle Shoals, Alabama tradition with slight brass toots & soulful lead guitar identity. With this song, it sounds like Lara’s part of a trio of voices all with an ineffable quality.
Not everything is spicy. Lara does some ballads & though her foundation remains solid – she turns the energy into more determined stamina with “Rain.” This set will offer some older listeners a chance to rediscover the genre Janis made special & is recaptured by Lara in a wholly new, modernized individualism. If you listen the words are not typical of the genre. They’re more poetic & undeniably an elegant blues narrative.
Highlights – “Fools Like Me,” “Things Ain’t Everything,” “Rain,” “Days Ago,” “Solitude,” & “The Way Love Goes.”
Musicians – Clint Simmons, Randy Hayes (drums/percussion), Mike Ingber (drums/keys/guitar), Nick Jay, Endre Tarczy & Eric Harrison (bass), Trevor Nealon, Baxter Robertson (keys), Mike Zito, David Jimenez, Chris Tondre, Mighty Mike Schermer & Matt Burger (guitar), Dr. Matthew Maldonado (sax), Sue McCracklin, Maureen Smith, Lisa Leuschner & Lara (bgv), Lisa Leuschner (claps), Jamie Lee Curtis Salgado (cat purr),
CD photography courtesy: Brynn Osborn. CD @ Amazon + https://www.laraprice.com/
