Living Down River by Tamara Lewis CD Review

Title – Living Down River
Artist – Tamara Lewis
Label – Tamara Lewis (self-produced)
Catalogue Number – 884501005081
Rating – 3 ½

Tamara Lewis likes to bring real life stories into her music and her latest offering Living Down River is no exception to that rule. Tamara is quoted as saying that she is heavily influenced musically by Patsy Cline and Alison Krauss. Living Down River is an unusual mixed bag of songs. Country, folk, bluegrass, blues and jazz are finely blended together to create something quite beautiful and enchanting.

I’ll Come Home starts off the album and is a fine example of Tamara’s unique musical talents. Here a gentle mix of country, blues and jazz combines perfectly together to produce an old fashioned song with a strong traditional feel. The music is pleasant on the ear always allowing Tamara’s voice to shine through.

Better Day has a more country feel about it. Tamara’s voice is sensuous inviting the listener to hear more. Lovely harmonies fill the chorus. This is a delightful song that will melt the heart of even the hardest of listeners. A truly mesmerising song – pure class!

Love Song To The Midwest is another song with a strong traditional country feel to it. Here I am reminded of Kathy Mattea in both style and composition.

Don’t Look At The Mountain has a strong bluegrass feel to it. Tamara’s voice is once again strong and full of strength and clarity.

That Leavin’ Sound combines jazz and bluegrass together and comes up with something quite delectable and unique. It is easy to see the influence of Patsy Cline in this beautiful ballad. This is a truly lovely song.

Big City Blues shifts Tamara’s musical style up a gear. This is a livelier song but Tamara still manages to retain something of a classical country sound. Although this is a catchy song with a great hook it is probably my least favourite of the whole album. It just doesn’t do Tamara’s breathtaking vocals justice.

With My Eyes is a high point of this delightful album of contrasts and styles. This gentle ballad really gives Tamara’s vocal talents a chance to shine and shine they do. I like the fact that nothing is overdone here. The music is subtle and Tamara’s vocals are crisp with a strangely old fashioned sound. Rather than listening to an album released in 2008 the listener is transported back to a time of gramophones and crackles.

Cold Coffee, Warm Beer sees Tamara blend blues with country once again. This is a pleasant number but it lacks Tamara’s uniqueness and charm.

Key Of Lonely is a sultry number that oozes with class and style. This is a top quality song that infuses a little jazz with old style country to create a fantastic sound.

The title song of this album is also the last song. This is a lovely song with beautiful harmonies. Keeping the title song until the end of the album certainly pays off. It is a song worth waiting for.

All in all this is an exciting album that pulls together many types and styles of music to produce a delicate classical sound. Probably not every country fans cup of tea but there are enough gems on this album to keep most fans happy.