The Kate Lush Band – Headline | Album Review

The Kate Lush Band – Headline

Self-Released

www.katelush.com

11 tracks

Kate Lush and her band deliver 11 new tracks with a full sound from down under.  Spirited and soulful R&B and funkiness abound as Lush shows her stuff in this well made CD.  The horn section appears on four tracks and add a lot of depth to the sound, but Lush and the main players hold their own throughout.  Aussie guitar legend Dave Hole also stops by for a couple of well-done solos.

The title tracks begins the set.  It’s got an R&B pop tune sound.  Lush sings with authority and the horn section and piano led band do their job to round out the sound. The electric piano gets the funk going from the start as Lush delivers a cool and funky cut in “If You Don’t Like It.”  Everyone joins in the fun and several of the band members get into the vocals.  Piano and trombone give  thoughtful solos, too. Lush then takes us up to the Hill Country for the acoustic start to “Jackson.”  The band comes in to build things up and then we gets some hauntingly cool howls to give the tune authenticity.  Dave Hole delivers a stratospheric slide guitar solo mid way through that is quite cool. “Goodbye to the Rain” is a nice little ballad where Lush sings her lover perhaps will miss her when she’s gone.

“Rock That Won’t Roll” is a mid tempo funky cut that picks up the pace a bit. The band does a little response to her call.  The song builds well in intensity as it goes along.  “Weakness” is a song with funk and attitude.  Lush sings about the weakness she has the guitar in her man’s hands in this driving cut. Guess who returns for another huge slide solo?  Hole nails another one and blows the roof off again. “You Already Knew” is a slick funky tune where Lush again shows us some attitude. Matt Roberts gets a cool guitar solo here.

The horns section returns with some sweet sounds from their layoff after the first two tracks for “”Fall Down Seven Times.”  Lush sings that she may fall down with adversity but always stands up one more time that she gets knocked down.  Next is “One Heart to Break,” another well done ballad where Lush emotes so well.  “How Will I Hold Out” is a midtempo sort of country rocker where Roberts’ guitar gets aired out a little backing Lush. The concluding track brings the horns back for a full and very cool sound.  Lush sings in this soulful R&B production entitled “Sanctuary.”

Lush received 2 IAMA Songwriting awards and she has also won Best Female & Best International in U.S. IAMA & SAW Awards. Her band is Matt on guitar, Tim Wilson on bass, Tony Boyd on drums and Wes Harder on keyboards. Jason Bruer on sax, Mike Raper on trombone and Adrian Beale on trumpet are Lush’s horn section and really do a fine job, too,

If you are looking for straight up Chicago blues this is not what you are looking for.  But if you like modern blues with an R&B, soul and funky approach delivered by a woman with a passionate voice and a band ready to back her to the max, then look no further.  I enjoyed the CD and look forward t hearing more from Kate and her band again!

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