[CD] Fiona Boyes - Professin' The Blues

Reference Recordings CREF 140, 0030911114022 - Blues HDCD CD - "...our heroine perpetuates the blues legacy with a brave attitude and amazing conviction." — Vicente Zumel, La Hora Del Blues Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist Fiona Boyes is an earthy force of nature. Her gravelly vocal timbre is straight out of the red dirt of the Outback. No swishy blues affectation, here. Professin' the Blues proclaims Fiona Boyes' passion for the blues as she celebrates the unique contribution of recording and mastering engineer 'Professor' Keith O. Johnson, Reference Recording's Technical Director and audio legend. The majority of the songs are written by Boyes. She's influenced by Delta Blues with a little Caribbean thrown in. For the most part, the songs are paired down to the nub. Voice with guitar, with sundry percussion — once in a while, drums and bass make an appearance. Of course, this instrumentation appears on many blues albums, but Boyes has a way of drawing in the listener into her stories. It's very intimate, very personal. Like Bille Holiday and Bessie Smith, Boyes takes you on her journey. From the wonderful liner notes, Boyes seems to have a made a BFF in Johnson, the engineering alchemist of Reference Recordings. He's the reason why each Reference release with his imprimatur is awaited eagerly. His magic appears on this album from the very beginning. Each song is beautifully annotated on the CD cover — specific guitars, percussion instruments, drums, bass, and spirit behind the songs. The precision is welcome, writes audiophilia.com .