India Ramey – Baptized By the Blaze
Someone always likes to explore countrified music with a bit of distinction, eccentricity & zeal. India Ramey is a connoisseur of spaghetti western landscapes, backwoods honkytonks & Appalachian foothills. At least, that’s how she’s described & that’s what I found when I opened this challenging package. I did not find posturing.
There are 11 tunes immersed in Baptized By the Blaze (Drops Aug 23/Mule Kick/30:34) with songs written by India (lead vocals) & produced by Luke Wooten in Nashville, TN.
Other writers vividly describe India’s music as sounding like some country legends mixed with artists like Neko Case & Black Sabbath. That sounds fairly off the grid. I’m not always certain a description like that does an artist justice. Why? Because where’s the country music-loving audience for that type of jambalaya? I prefer to look closer. There’s more to Ms. Ramey than the wild comparisons that mix water & gasoline. And we all know you don’t pour water on a gasoline fire.
India straddles the fence between a rockabilly icon like Wanda Jackson with the glitter & pomp of Porter Wagoner if not the work of Mimi Roman/Kitty Ford (same artist) who was great. India adds a twist of non-country torque to bring out vocally (“Ain’t My First Rodeo”) the necessary gusto to many tunes. Throughout, she displays a country artist with 50s country-inflected vocals dipped in a formidable showcase filled with sharply-honed techniques.
I don’t find her music a novelty though she does have fun with some tunes. India’s a good vocalist & entertainer — integral to her work, a majority of her songs have style & substance.
She has in abundance a Dolly Parton exuberance that’s undeniable.
Highlights – “Ain’t My First Rodeo,” “Baptized By the Blaze,” “Silverado,” “Piece of My Mind,” “The Mountain,” “Never Going Back” & “Rotten.”
Musicians – Seth Taylor (acoustic guitars), Tommy Hardin (drums), Alyson Prestwood (bass), Scotty Sanders (pedal steel guitar) & James Mitchell (electric guitar).
CD @ Apple Music + Amazon & https://www.indiaramey.com/
Check out our previous coverage here: REVIEW: India Ramey’s “Shallow Graves” is Fierce Determination and Southern Noir
