Katie Henry – Get Goin’
Ruf Records RUF 1306
11 songs – 41 minutes
New Jersey-based Katie Henry has come a lo-o-ong way since bursting onto the scene in 2018 with her debut CD, High Road, which went on to earn a Blues Blast Music Awards nomination and more. A member of the Ruf Records family for the past four years and now a star in her own right, the triple-threat vocalist/guitarist/keyboard player delivers a stellar set of blues-rock on her latest disc, which features backing from the Bernard Allison band.
Katie’s road to fame began with piano lessons at age six. And as soon as she was old enough, she was hitting the clubs in New York City, where she attended college. She became a local favorite, delivering her own brand of blues, rock, soul and more. After her initial release and no longer scrawling lyrics on the back of high school notebooks, she received international acclaim in 2022 when Ruf released her follow-up, On My Way. That year, she joined Ruf’s Blues Caravan Revue, which featured two other rising talents – Ghalia Volt and Will Jacobs.
Now a charismatic vocalist who pens highly intelligent originals, she traveled the world stage co-starring on tour with Allison. And this disc with his bandmates – bassist George Moye, drummer/guitarist Matt Kimathi, keyboard player Eric Cannavaro, percussionist Richard Pappik and guitarist Michael Murauer – is the product of the close friendships she built along the way.
Delivering powerful emotions and plenty of vulnerability, too, beginning with the opening cut, an uptempo version of Scott Sharrard’s “Love Like Kerosene.” Henry’s assertive pipes float above a driving beat and a powerful mid-tune piano solo set up what’s to follow. The Katie original, “Jump,” opens quietly with a funky drumbeat and six-string lead before she admits that, just like everyone, she’s got problems to get out of her way. They’re like water in a levy that’s about to burst, and she’s downstream in a home that’s not to last – but then she finds “a valley where it can all be right” where she’ll be welcome.
The original ballad “A Doll’s Heart” bemoans the fact that a lover seemingly puts her on a pedestal, but shows that’s not the case when she’s not around. “Clear Vision” changes the mood from the jump. It’s a medium-fast and bittersweet stop-time blues that states without a doubt that Katie’s ready to move on and put the past behind. Koko Taylor’s “Voodoo Woman” gets an updated, contemporary redo to follow.
It gives way to “The Lion’s Den,” a haunting blues-rocker that builds in intensity throughout as it finds Henry walking in and out of a relationship with another problem man and vowing things will be different next time she walks in. The intimate ballad, “Wake Up Time,” finds Katie unable to move on and wondering what went wrong.
“Get Goin’ Get Done,” one of songs Henry co-wrote with Allison for the set, serves up a sweet melody but a message that the end’s finally come and she’s moving on. Bernard’s Big Easy-flavored instrumental, “Bayou Boogie,” puts all of the darkness in the past before their funky “Trying” announces Katie’s trying to get the guy out of her head before a take on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” brings the set to a close.
If you don’t know Katie Henry by now, you should. This one’s great. Give it a listen and you’ll be wanting more!
