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vocals and bass, are, Jason Thomas on guitar, with Michael Ballash and Dave Melyan supplying the
drum work.

‘Old Girl’, is a poignant reminder to us all, that the younger generation is more than ready to
‘ambush’ you with kindness or indifference. Lisa’s endearing and knowing voice contains an edge of
defiance but, with no sign of rancour, the slightly country infused rolling ballad is given greater
depth by the sweetly rolling guitar and sympathetically warming B3 from Louis Pain. ‘It’s The
Monkeys Or Me’, relates to a genuine tale of romance but, the impediment was a troop of monkeys
and well.... one has gotta go! The warmly ringing, rolling goodtime guitars and tumbling, punching
drums make for a splendid foot tapper. On ‘Everybody’s Making Money’, the gently swinging guitar
meshes with a crisply insistent percussion and as they burst to a crescendo Lisa’s world weary voice
coolly glides over the top. For this, is a timely tale of the self financing independent artist, that
relies upon an army of helpers and hangers-on, they all want a slice of the pie, before it’s even
baked. On Rosetta Tharpe’s ‘That’s All’, Lisa brings a coldly lamenting vocal to this classic tale of
greed and dishonesty, the sombre stark guitar and drawling, dragging percussion only adds to the
lingering atmosphere of despair. ‘Around Here’, is a gospel infused number that features Sonny
Hess, Brian Foxworth, Larhonda Steele and Arietta Ward on backing vocals, the solemn B3 adds a
sanctified feel as Lisa laments all the musical fallen of the past and present, big and small.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman.

Kat Riggins—Cry Out—Gulf Coast

Kat is a powerhouse singer and songwriter here working closely
with label boss Mike Zito and, whilst she has been one of my
favourite blues performers for a few years now, here she moves
things up another notch. There is a big production sound and
songs that have something relevant to say. This is most definitely
today’s blues.

The powerful, riffing opener, ‘Son Of A Gun’, makes for a good
introduction to Kat’s vocal abilities, and the title track is a good
example of what I mean: socially aware lyrics advising us to raise our voices before it’s too late
combine with a Wilie Dixon styled rhythm and arrangement, including a wailing blues harmonica by

Johnny Sansone. By contrast the following number, ‘Meet Your Maker’, is an ever-so funky blues
performance, and ‘Hand In The Hand (Interlude)’ is just that, a brief (35 seconds) one verse acapella
nod to Kat’s gospel influences.

MIke Zito adds a blues-rock production to many tracks here, though keeping the blues per se as
their foundation. Try ‘Truth’ for a good example, as Kat’s vocals become more impassioned (vintage
Tina Turner comes to mind briefly) and the guitar work veers towards southern rock, or maybe the

raw ‘Wicked Tongue’, or the lurching downhome sound of ‘Burn It All Down’...

Then there is the moving ‘Heavy’ with its echoes of Mavis Staples, the romping blues of the hopeful
‘On Its Way’, the gospel-blues ‘No Sale’ and the firm statements of the closer, ‘The Storm’. Just when
you think you’ve got Kat pegged, she throws in something quite unexpected.

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