I just received the newest release (October 21, 2014),
I'm Changing, from
Lisa Mills and it's stunning! Opening with
Better Than This/ I Don't Need You Anymore, Mills opens up a quiet bluesy ballad. Her easy pace and confidence is quite becoming. Rick Hirsch lays in a really nice guitar solo joining Ian Jennings on bass and Jimmy Roebuck on drums.
I Don't Want To Be Happy is a simple ballad with Mills accompanied by Jennings on bass, John Milham on drums and Corky Hughes on guitar. Mills really has a colorful voice and it is nicely on display here.
I Need A Little Sunshine has a nice gospel like feel, with a twist of country and a pinch of island. Britt Meacham adds some nice soft melodic chorded soloing. Nice! Title track,
I'm Changing, is a very solid ballad and beautifully written and executed track. Pat Murphy overlays a soft fiddle solo over Mills own accompaniment on acoustic guitar. Very nice!
Eyes So Blue has cool island feel and Mills voice melds nicely into the rhythm. This is one of the strongest tracks on the release with definite radio potential. Shake It has a real nice 40's nightclub sound and although Mills holds her basic form her styling on this track is particularly nice. Hughes adds some nice slide work and Hirsch some cool baritone guitar riffs.
Tell Me is Mills alone on vocal. This track, more than any other shows the confidence and warmth of Mills voice. A solid gospel like track, my favorite track on the release. Excellent! A classic
, I Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down features a real nice bluesy take on the traditional track with Hughes on bottleneck slide resonator. Opening with a traditional delta styling and then moving to a more soulful feel. Another excellent track!
Rain In The Summertime is a pure ballad which actually reminds me quite a bit of Joni Mitchell. Clean and pure.
Take My Troubles has an easy R&B/reggae feel with an easy rhythm pace and clean soloing by Meacham. Another very nice track.
The Truth has a bit of a European feel in construction but with almost civil war like drumming by TK Lively, the addition of banjo by Murphy and some obtuse guitar work by Hughes, the most experimental track on the release. Wrapping the release is Jimi Hendrix's classic
Little Wing. Hughes plays a haunting slide guitar part below the easy vocal treatment by Mills. One of the coolest tracks to come out of the 60's era, this is a super interpretation of it with clever exchange between acoustic guitar and supersonic slide work as a compliment to Mills vocals.
This is a particularly unusual release for my review and one that I quite enjoyed.
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