Donna Herula – Cold Feet
This blues set with Chicago-born Donna Herula has no dust, little vintage lineage & antiquated mixtures of the genre to invigorate it. Instead, the bluesy austerity is pristine, with Donna’s slide work (“On My Way Home”) & electric guitar comfortably prominent. Vocally, there’s no harshness, but there’s attitude. Some tunes are blues-entertaining but not consistently. This isn’t the bluesy rock incinerator of Janis Joplin, or the jazzier blues blend of Billie Holiday. It’s closer to a rootsy blues of Bonnie Raitt.
This 10-song dip into warm water for Cold Feet (Drops Sept 18/Independent/36:34) was produced by the man with the wool socks, Jon Shain (acoustic & acoustic slide guitar/electric guitar fills & some leads) & recorded in Chicago. The song “Cold Feet” would have worked better as a blues if Donna sang about cold feet in a cold water flat in the dead of winter with no hooch rather than simply losing confidence.
However, what saves this from mediocrity is Donna’s muscular guitar work & her tight band. The real meaty blues dynamic comes out of the ground like worms after a spring storm with “Honey Darlin’ Baby Please,” a wonderfully bluesy steady stream of mood & texture. Something Bonnie Raitt would admire. The album’s captured with just enough polish to keep it from sounding purified. The Los Lobos slow-drizzle blues of “Cypress Grove Blues,” sung by Donna (vocals/National Tricone slide guitar/electric slide guitar/Resonator, electric & acoustic guitars), is impressively absorbing. It has a badass charm.
Donna balances her showcase with upbeat tunes (“Backseat Driver”) to keep the set interesting, but this is where the genre gets into a swagger the blues idiom seldom mixes well with. But Donna’s wise. She accentuates the tune with a hot John Jochem harmonica & locks in a head-nodding lead guitar that elevates the tune with precision. It has a Chicago emphasis with a slight guitar-purr of Michael Bloomfield, with a splendid variety bordering on the primal & modern.
Not everything sparkles with ingenuity or is gutsy. Blues guitar aside, some pieces have sensitive acoustic guitar & expressive lyrics. Not necessarily the blues, but it keeps the recipe from getting stale. “Things Can Change” is a genuine Blues. It percolates with an ounce of soulfulness. When Donna goes classic on “Dust My Broom,” it’s a balloon inflated with helium. It takes off. The LP is a fun exploration & Donna’s blues is far from ordinary.
Highlights – “On My Way Home,” “Honey Darlin’ Baby Please,” “Cypress Grove Blues,” “Things Can Change” & “Dust My Broom.”
Musicians – Tony Wittrock (acoustic, electric & rhythm guitars/harmony), Mark Edelstein (electric & upright bass), Alton Smith (organ/Wurlitzer), Steve Eisen (sax), Anne Harris (violin), Kenny Smith (drums/cowbell), Rick Barnes (percussion), Kary Ream, Rebecca Toon & Candy LaFlora (bgv).
Front cover photo courtesy of Robert Erving Potter III. A 14-page stitched lyric insert included. CD @ Amazon & https://donnaherula.com/release/cold-feet/