Shelley King – “Welcome Home”
With touches of zydeco, blues, country, rock, soul and folk, Welcome Home, Shelley King’s latest record with members of the Subdudes (John Magnie, Tim Cook and Steve Amedée) is a spicy gumbo of roots style and sound for your ears.
Growing from a few demos, the talented musicians eventually recorded enough material in John’s Colorado home studio to create a full-length album.
There’s the country-tinged love songs like Summer Wine (the first single) and the boogie-woogie piano on How You Make Me Feel co-written with friend and fellow Sis Deville member, Floramay Holliday.
A gentle R&B sound on I Can’t Make It Easy and It’s Starting to Rain exhibits another facet of Shelley’s voice and the various musical influences of New Orleans on the record.
John Magnie’s accordion highlights Everything’s Alright, a song that Shelley wrote with NoLa musician Theresa Andersson as a reassurance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina while they were waiting to hear from friends and loved ones.
Still, it’s the hymn-like, chill-inducing title track with its subtle harmonies and soulful vocals, complemented perfectly by the spiritual Grain of Sand that steals the spotlight. And an a cappella reprise of Welcome Home follows, ending the album with a scratchy, vinyl-like fade out.
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