Published on Jan 19, 1998
It’s nice when music transcends categorization – it may wrack
radio programmer’s brains, but it helps expand the horizons of the
listeners.
Take Toni Price as an example. Her latest album,
Sol Power is a live effort on a blues label – a release that
is anything but blues. Instead, it’s an exciting mix of country and
folk – with possibly a touch of rock mixed within.
A live set recorded at Railroad Blues in Alpine, Texas, the star
of this album might not solely be Price herself, though her vocals
are quite good. To overlook the guitar and fiddle talents of Champ
Hood, and the guitar work of Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Casper Rawls
would be criminal, for they create the texture of this album that
makes it special. Price’s vocals simply are the icing on the
cake.
I often think of the Indigo Girls when I listen to
Sol Power; “Like The Sun” is a great vocal workout and
groove-based number, while “Run, Run, Run” also conveys some
high-quality energy thanks to Price’s vocals. The light country
touches on the album are especially evident on “The Old Fiddler’s
Waltz” and “A West Texas Lullaby,” songs which harken back to the
days of traditional country artists like Hank Williams.
A surprising discovery on
Sol Power is the audience – namely, how listless they sound.
Sure, it’s nice when you can hear an audience member shouting
“Wonderful!” at the end of “The Old Fiddler’s Waltz,” but at other
times it sounds like they’re more engaged in their own
conversations than paying attention to the music. And their howling
in response to Price’s on “Cats And Dogs” – well, it frightened me.
It might have been better, in fact, to edit the crowd out of this
one.
In addition, when Price tries to get more rock-oriented, she
just falls flat. Fortunately, this only happens once, on her cover
of Lee Dorsey’s “Funky,” further proof that white people
shouldn’t try to be funky. The only other questions I have
on this album are the opening and closing montages comprising of
train sounds. Unless these were for opening and closing credits for
a home video, I really don’t see the purpose of including them on
this album.
Those minor complaints aside, songs like “Burnin’ Down,” “Sarah”
and “#1” create such a blend of folk and country that it will
appeal to fans of both genres. And though this was released on
Antone’s, a blues-based label, I would argue that it fits in with
the down-home roots of the label. (Price provided guest vocals on
fellow labelmate Candye Kane’s most recent album.)
Sol Power shines brightly on many tracks, and is able to
transcend the few mistakes to create an enjoyable album you’ll find
yourself going back to again and again. But here’s hoping that
Price try to capture this magic in the studio next time – the
audience might just be livelier.