Queen Esther has earned the comparisons to folks like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Melissa Etheridge, and on her fourth album she expands–bouncing from originals to the deep-cut blues we’ve come to expect from her and into some surprising covers.
The album starts with her own “The Black Cowgirl Song,” a smooth, traditional number, and then jumps into a rough blues cover of John the Revelator, and then slides easily into another original, the easy-on-the-ears “Whiskey Wouldn’t Let Me Pray.”
The whole album is like that–a wonderful journey through Americana, blues, roots, and gentle country.
Great, great stuff!
Runner up: Stiff Richards’ new album is fun punk.
