By Bobby Bensley Deal
Artist: Greta Gaines
Album: It Was Hot
Over the past 4 years I have listened to thousands of Independent artists on the Internet. Many of them have exhibited immense amounts of talent and provided me with hours uncounted of listening pleasure. Many of them have caused me to run screaming into the night, wondering what ever possessed me to hit the play button. Greta Gaines is one of the former, in fact of all the artists I have listened to online I would say that she ranks among the top 5 on my favorites list.
This young lady has done a little bit of everything in her life. From conquering the world of extreme sports and becoming the worlds first female Extreme Snowboard Champion in Valdez, Alaska in 1992, to working with and sharing a stage with many of the great musical acts of the past decade. Greta is a songwriter’s songwriter, which is why she was asked on the Lilith Fair to sing with Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan during their shows and why she was personally chosen by Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos to open the first 5 dates of their 5 1/2 weeks tour.
While her self-titled debut album met with critical acclaim from critics across the country many felt that the harsh reality of her lyrical content contributed to it being received less then enthusiastically on a commercial level. As a result you will find her current release “It Was Hot” to carry a more commercial feel and sound. While the songwriting and performance carry the trademark strengths and nuances that make Greta such a unique talent in a vast pool of mediocrity that is the current world of commercial music, it at first glance lacks that edginess that made her first album so desirable.
Listening beyond the first round of tracks though reveals that the edge of Greta Gaines is as sharp as ever only it is now more finely honed. The result is an album filled with 12 tracks of finely polished songs with lyrics that cleanly cut to the quick. Nashville songwriting great Harlan Howard once said (and I paraphrase) that the great songwriters find a formula that works to create a hit song and then they keep writing the same song in a different package. Greta has subscribed to this theory in that many of the songs on this album will remind you of songs from the first one in style, melody and structure. While they are familiar in the way a Buck Owens train song or a Red Hot Chilli Peppers tune is familiar, each one carves out it’s own unique niche.
Peppered with a lap steel guitar reminiscent of the late great Leo LeBlanc but provided by Daniel Tashian tracks such as "Blue Girl" will leave you haunted and contemplative. On the other side of the coin cuts like "Lorelei" will have you dancing and spinning in a “That’s How Mikey Likes It” type frenzy. The title track “It Was Hot” is just that, filled with perhaps one of the strongest vocal performances Greta has ever recorded and sharply honed lyrics that tell her story of a short but intense love affair with such a dynamic emotion that listeners will be left breathless.
“It Was Hot” is an album filled with tracks of deep emotion, stellar vocal deliveries and lead and lap steel guitars that are truly tasty. Yet it still carries an element of pure fun that translates into a bit of daring and experimentation. Such a track is the totally physco-billy surf rock sound of “Wake Up Happy” which really would be more aptly named “Surfer Girl” In this track Greta forgets all about how she was trying to record an album that the record execs and Clear Channel Program Directors would fall in love with. Instead on this track she opts to just have fun and the result may well be a track that the aforementioned can sink their teeth into as something unique.
Overall Greta has accomplished what she set out to do. She has written and recorded an album that is slickly produced that should have a lot of commercial appeal. What she has not done is sell out her artistic vision in the process. “It Was Hot” is as enjoyable a listen as anything I have heard yet this year. Regardless of what the industry big shots in Nashville, New York and LA might choose to do with this album I can assure you that you would not go wrong to add this one to your personal collection. As an added incentive Greta is currently offering Internet shoppers a two fer one deal on her website at www.gretagaines.com. For a limited time you can order “It Was Hot” for the standard Indie Artist price of $10.00 and she will throw in her first album for another five bucks to cover the postage and handling. This gives you two albums that are sure to become prized pieces of your music collection for the price you would normally pay for a single album at Wal Mart. Check this girl out, give her a listen from the website and watch a high quality video or two while you’re there then go buy this album, in fact buy two cause your going to wear the first one out.