MICHELE D’AMOUR AND THE LOVE DEALERS
WIGGLE ROOM
BLUESKITTY RECORDS
FALLING DOWN–SWEET LOVIN MAN–WIGGLE ROOM–HONEY ON THE SIDE–NOTHING TO NO ONE–LET IT SLIDE–BEEN SO LONG–WORTHY–HE CAN’T BE WRONG–HARD TIMES
Michele D’ Amour (pronounce it de-Moore) grew up in west Seattle, and was a child prodigy on piano by age six. She and her band, The Love Dealers, have just released their first album on Michele’s own BluesKitty label, “Wiggle Room,” ten originals (and two co-writes with guitarist Jeff Cornell and keys man Brian Olendorf), that showcase the reason she won a Grand Prize in the 2017 John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
Michele is a big-voiced, blues-beltin’ chanteuse, who’s equally comfortable with a torch song as she is with straight blues and even protest songs, of which there are a couple of brilliant ones herein. She’s expanded the fullness of the sound of The Love Dealers, adding four new members, and everything comes together quite swimmingly.
Michele gets into the “swing” of things with the stop-time swagger of that “Sweet Lovin’ Man to come home to every night!” Gotta love Noel Barnes on that sax solo, too! The title cut is a sweet shot of “last call” jazz, with our heroine lookin’ for a lover to “send me to the moon, with a little bit of Wiggle Room!” And, all you back-door-creepin’ lotharios better heed Michele’s advice, set over a cool, Seventies’ wah-wah-fired arrangement, “watch out for the bees, when you got Honey On The Side.”
Our favorites came in the form of two songs that tell a sad tale of the current state of much of today’s society. Over the Chet Baker-ish trumpet of Greg Lyons, Michele tells the story of the plight of the nation’s homeless, “Nothing To No One, of no consequence.” Nothing, however, compares to the powerful “Hard Times,” detailing the senseless violence in Charleston, SC, as well as what seems to be a daily occurrence somewhere in the world.
Michele D’Amour’s desire was to create a set that uses music to help us celebrate good times and cope with life’s struggles. This one has “Wiggle Room” to spare, and spreads a positive message to all blues fans! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues Society.
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