CD Review: Fire it Up!
by the Laurie Morvan Band
by Mark S. Tucker, Edited by: David N. Pyles | Folk & Acoustic Music
Exchange
| October 21, 2009
Can I ask all the knee-jerk feminists to leave the room
for a moment? The philosophical sistren can stay. They gone?
Good. Okay, we all know what a problematic time we music
lovers have historically had in locating really fine female
guitar players. I mean, look at the record: April Lawton
(Ramatam), Fanny, Millington, all those pathetic Olivia
LPs, etc. Were we happy there? Of course not. Sure, every
so often we get a Bonnie Raitt, a Rory Block, and so on,
but, c'mon, where were the hot players? Yep, few in number
and far between, Emily Remler, who should be immortalized,
the touchstone. Well, lately, it appears the corner's finally
being turned…and almost exclusively in the blues dept. (with
a happy nod to Mimi Fox in the jazz world).
Laurie Morvan has fire in the belly and it extends all the
way to her fingertips, gently caressing a tamed down axe
while singing, just before stepping out for bars and measures
of prime soloing, sometimes blazing, other times just plain
sophisticated. And guess what? There ain't no second fretbender
slyly guesting to shore up the soft spots…'cause there ain't
no soft spots, Jeeter! Her band's a trio plus backing vocals,
so there's nowhere to hide, and Morvan stays right up front,
grinning like the feline that snagged the cream, fearing
nothing. Not only that but she sports a great set of pipes
to tell the story of some rather naughty escapades and desires.
The blues was never friendly to, as she acknowledges, the
good girls, 'cause "the good girls are just the bad girls
that ain't been caught", so she ain't pretending. Leave
that to Linda and Nelson.
Laurie isn't exactly lacking in admirers, either. Her press
has been great, and David Matthews sits in on keyboards
here. Previously, she attracted George Duke and could boast
of Tony Braunagel as drummer. Yep, the same Tony Braunagel
who rat-a-tatted for Back Street Crawler, Paul Kossoff's
post-Free ensemble, and has long been an in-demand sessioneer.
Impressive. But Morvan is clearly the centerpiece, confident,
highly skilled, and she wrote every single cut. A finalist
in the 2008 Best Self-Produced CD category for her Cures
What Ails Ya, the engineering on this succeeding disc is
excellent, though I think her entire self-produced gig is
going to rapidly disappear as the majors start sniffing
around the tent, attracted by the solid elements of every
inch of her work. The major guitar and blues mags have already
caught on, devoting much space and full-page photos, so
it's only a matter of time before Alligator, Severn, or
similar top flighters come a-knockin'. In the meantime,
all this brouhaha has served to increase Laurie's touring
schedule, so scrutinize your local entertainment rags, y'all,
and catch her when she comes to town.
Okay, you can let the pissed-off fems back in now.
Copyright 2009, Peterborough
Folk Music Society.
This review may be reprinted with prior permission and attribution.
Entire article available at Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
online: Fire
It Up! CD review
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