Review: Kelly Richey

Kelly Richey - Finding My Way Back Home (Sweet Lucy Records)
Kelly Richey has been a professional touring musician for over 30 years, her first major break coming in 1986 when she joined country rockers Stealin’ Horses, before going her own way when she formed The Kelly Richey Band in 1990. In one form or another, Richey and her band have been around ever since, releasing their debut long-player in 1994 (“Sister’s Got A Problem”) and thereafter regularly recording and releasing new records. Indeed, if I’m not mistaken, “Finding My Way Back Home” is Richey’s 13th album with her name on the front cover, though this time it’s very much a solo effort, with Richey taking the opportunity to explore her roots in blues and Americana, but through original songs.

Known primarily as an electric guitarist and blues bawler, there’s a wonderful quote floating out in the ether that describes Richey as “Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman’s body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out”. She takes an alternative tack on “Finding My Way Back Home”. Armed with just an acoustic guitar and her supple vocals, she explores her songs, empasising phrases that may have been lost in a full band setting, and allowing her words to do the hard graft. Standouts are plentiful. “Dig a Little Deeper” is fantastic, not unlike a bluesier, sassier Joan Armatrading. The title track is another early treat, with themes of loss and redemption, it’s classic blues material in everyway except its execution, which appears to inhabit a space where folk, soul and gospel co-exist. “Is Anybody Listening” is simple and direct, yet exhibits everything that is good about the album; a fine song, played beautifully and sung with genuine emotion.
http://kellyrichey.com/home.cfm
Rob F.