GRACIE CURRAN
AND FRIENDS
COME UNDONE
VIZZTONE RECORDS VT-GC01
COME UNDONE–ERNESTINE–STAY UP!–THE THINGS WE LOVE–SWEET SATIVA–IF MAMA AIN’T HAPPY–LOVE IS THE CRUELEST THING I KNOW–CHASING SUNSETS
Hard to believe it has been five years since Gracie Curran broke into the national spotlight with her debut album, “Proof Of Love,” which garnered a Blues Award nomination in the Best New Artist category. Since that time, she has taken that big, soul-drenched, bluesy voice on the road, packin’ ’em in at clubs and festivals everywhere. She has found the time, thankfully for us fans, to release a follow-up, and she and a band of her good friends have just given us “Come Undone,” for the Vizztone label.
These original songs are virtually a musical diary of sorts, chronicling her ups and downs during the last five years. It was recorded in her adopted hometown of Memphis, with guitarist Damon Fowler producing. Her other friends on board are some of the cream of today’s contemporary crop, with Matt Walker and Pat Harrington on guitar, Victor Wainwright and Jeremy Powell on keys, and Reba Russell on backing vocals.
This material is poignant and powerful, and can best be described as using music as a healing poultice, after you’ve lost everything and are trying to stay upright until you get your life back together. That soulfully-intense voice is the glue that holds everything together, and the cuts show her vulnerable side as well as her blues-beltin’-mama style. The side of her that’s been sufferin’ leads off, as a love affair that’s imploded leads her to “Come Undone,” set over a classic-soul arrangement fired by the horn section. She revisits that tough aspect of pain-then-recovery with the somber “Love Is The Cruelest Thing I Know.” “Ernestine,” tho, pulls her back into reality. It is done acoustically, and conjures up thoughts of a happier place and time.
This set has more light moments, and two of those served as our favorites. “Stay Up!” is a rollicking rocker that involves good friends, good times, and “a bottle of Bacardi,” ’cause “it’s too late to go to bed!” Next up, Victor Wainwright gets us all into a boogie woogie groove on the 88’s as our girl unloads on a lover who “came home late, drunk again,” and we all know the rest–“If Mama Ain’t Happy, ain’t nobody happy!”
Gracie Curran took her life experiences over the last five years of near-constant touring and set them to music, to help her cope. With “Come Undone,” Gracie said it best–“this is life, through music.” Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues And Roots Alliance.
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