REBEKAH MELDRUM
(SELF-TITLED)
SET YOUR SOUL FREE–WHISKEY AND WINE–FAR AWAY–AIN’T THINKING ‘BOUT YOU–GYPSY–COAT TAILS–I’M HERE
Songstress Rebekah Meldrum gets the passion involved in loving the blues, comparing it to a near-religious experience. Makes perfect sense, as she is a preacher’s daughter who grew up singing in her church. However, hearing Koko Taylor at age eight changed her young life, and she took the fork in the path of the musical road that led to the blues. Now, fans everywhere can witness to her powerful and methodical approach to the blues. She has just released her self-titled debut, seven originals that trace that musical road down thru the Delta, contemporary blues, New Orleans-styled rhythms, and even country.
Backing Rebekah, Paul Holdman is on guitar and duet vocals, and Patrick Long and Severn Records special guest Tad Robinson are on the harps. The journey begins deep down in the Delta, with Paul’s guitar and Tad’s harp adding to the spiritual groove of Rebekah’s “words to live by,” “Set Your Soul Free” and “enjoy that ride!” Next up is a more contemporary “shot,” if you will, as our heroine “loves my Whiskey And Wine,” featuring more of Tad’s Walter-riffic harp lines. A Susan Tedeschi-inspired song “Far Away,” has our girl longing for a better time and place, while one of our favorites is a new outlook on life, the funky strut of “I Ain’t Thinking “Bout You!!” “Gypsy” follows a laid-back groove, telling the story of that girl with the wandering soul who “likes to dance anywhere,” and can “surprise you when you least expect it!”
Our final favorite closed the set. “I’m Here” features Paul on duet vocals as he and Rebekah offer a poignant ode to victims of suicide and those they leave behind, always vowing that “I’m here,” to lend an open ear.
The pull of the secular versus the sacred has always been a strong one throughout the history of mankind. With Rebekah Meldrum, she has successfully straddled that imaginary line, and with her self-titled debut, she shows that the blues was indeed the right path for her! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues And Roots Alliance.
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