Deb Ryder Memphis Moonlight

Deb Ryder
Memphis Moonlight
VizzTone

"Memphis Moonlight" is a new release from the husky-voiced blues singer and songwriter Deb Ryder. Like her earlier recordings, it is produced by Tony Braunagel and Ryder's husband Rick while Johnny Lee Schell engineered the session. A core backing group of musicians includes Braunagel on drums, Schell on guitar, bass, and keyboards, Travis Carlton on bass, Mike Finnigan on the Hammond B-3, Peter Van Der Pluijim on harmonica, Joe Sublett on saxophone, and Mark Pender on trumpet. There are guest appearances by guitarists Ronnie Earl, Joey Delgado and Alistair Greene, saxophonist Steve Berlin, and accordionist David Hidalgo. Ryder wrote all 13 songs (two with her husband, Rick).

Deb Ryder's previous releases impressed me with her strong songwriting and her convincing, powerful vocals. Like her prior albums, this new release contains some hard-hitting blues and blues-rock. She sings powerfully but with nuance and an excellent display of vocal dynamics. Ryder never comes off as sounding shrill and emoting. The production and the support are top-notch as well.

Things kick off with the brassy, horn-driven, soulful funk of "I'm Coming Home, where she proclaims she is coming home where she belongs, singing over Sublett's sax. Plujiom's harmonica adds down-home flavor to "Hold On," with Braunagel leading an insistent groove. Alistair Greene adds his slide guitar along with that from Schell on her soulful vocal on a vibrant down-home gospel blues, "These Hands." Then there is "Get Ready," with an echo added to her voice as she urges us to start a revolution of love and speak out against injustice.

The mood shifts on a slow, straight-forward blues, "Love Is Gone," with Finnigan's organ adding atmosphere. This song is one of the two tracks that showcase Ronnie Earl, whose playing is impressive as always. This is a standout track here. Another high point is the title track has her singing supported only by Schell on guitar, bass, and tambourine and backing vocals by her and Finnigan. She sings about feeling good about being in Memphis and regrets letting her lover go in the past. "Just Be Careful" takes us musically to the Mississippi hill country with its infectious groove and memorable lyric with the tagline, "if you can't be good, just be careful," with Schell adding some rollicking slide guitar.

Schell shines on "Jump On In," where Ryder tells her man to let himself go and spend time with her. A jazzy shuffle, "Standing at the Edge," follows with swagger and swing in Ryder's vocal. Finnigan lays down a tough foundation for her vocal as well as taking a greasy solo. The Delgado brothers, Hidalgo and Steve Berlin lend a zydeco flavor to the lively "Second Chances." At times Ryder's tune "Most of All" hints at Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind." Ryder sings magnificently here while Ronnie Earl adds a solo played with such depth of feeling that matches Ryder's superb singing. It closes another excellent recording with outstanding originals, terrific backing, and Deb Ryder's authoritative singing.

I received my review copy from VizzTone. Here is a relatively recent performance from Deb Ryder.

Deb Ryder - Memphis Moonlight

Deb Ryder

Memphis Moonlight

VizzTone

"Memphis Moonlight" is a new release from the husky-voiced blues singer and songwriter Deb Ryder. Like her earlier recordings, it is produced by Tony Braunagel and Ryder's husband Rick while Johnny Lee Schell engineered the session. A core backing group of musicians includes Braunagel on drums, Schell on guitar, bass, and keyboards, Travis Carlton on bass, Mike Finnigan on the Hammond B-3, Peter Van Der Pluijim on harmonica, Joe Sublett on saxophone, and Mark Pender on trumpet. There are guest appearances by guitarists Ronnie Earl, Joey Delgado and Alistair Greene, saxophonist Steve Berlin, and accordionist David Hidalgo. Ryder wrote all 13 songs (two with her husband, Rick).

Deb Ryder's previous releases impressed me with her strong songwriting and her convincing, powerful vocals. Like her prior albums, this new release contains some hard-hitting blues and blues-rock. She sings powerfully but with nuance and an excellent display of vocal dynamics. Ryder never comes off as sounding shrill and emoting. The production and the support are top-notch as well.

Things kick off with the brassy, horn-driven, soulful funk of "I'm Coming Home, where she proclaims she is coming home where she belongs, singing over Sublett's sax. Plujiom's harmonica adds down-home flavor to "Hold On," with Braunagel leading an insistent groove. Alistair Greene adds his slide guitar along with that from Schell on her soulful vocal on a vibrant down-home gospel blues, "These Hands." Then there is "Get Ready," with an echo added to her voice as she urges us to start a revolution of love and speak out against injustice.

The mood shifts on a slow, straight-forward blues, "Love Is Gone," with Finnigan's organ adding atmosphere. This song is one of the two tracks that showcase Ronnie Earl, whose playing is impressive as always. This is a standout track here. Another high point is the title track has her singing supported only by Schell on guitar, bass, and tambourine and backing vocals by her and Finnigan. She sings about feeling good about being in Memphis and regrets letting her lover go in the past. "Just Be Careful" takes us musically to the Mississippi hill country with its infectious groove and memorable lyric with the tagline, "if you can't be good, just be careful," with Schell adding some rollicking slide guitar.

Schell shines on "Jump On In," where Ryder tells her man to let himself go and spend time with her. A jazzy shuffle, "Standing at the Edge," follows with swagger and swing in Ryder's vocal. Finnigan lays down a tough foundation for her vocal as well as taking a greasy solo. The Delgado brothers, Hidalgo and Steve Berlin lend a zydeco flavor to the lively "Second Chances." At times Ryder's tune "Most of All" hints at Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind." Ryder sings magnificently here while Ronnie Earl adds a solo played with such depth of feeling that matches Ryder's superb singing. It closes another excellent recording with outstanding originals, terrific backing, and Deb Ryder's authoritative singing.

I received my review copy from VizzTone.

Deb Ryder Grit Grease & Tears

Deb Ryder
Grit Grease & Tears
Bejeb Music

Deb Ryder impresses right off the back with "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy," the opening track of her third album, "Grit Grease & Tears." As she shouts on this hot jumping blues, it ain't gonna be easy but its gonna be a helluva lot of fun, and that is what this album is, a helluva lot of fun. Ryder cites Etta James and Koko Taylor, and she has captured not only the powerful approaches they employed, but also their expressive abilities and nuanced aspects of their singing. Add to this her abilities as a songwriter (she contributed all the songs here) and the production of Tony Braunagel, Johnny Schell's engineering, and a fine studio band including her husband Rick on bass, Braunagel on drums, Schell on guitar, Mike Finnigan on keyboards with Kirk Fletcher adding guitar to half the twelve songs, Albert Lee to one and harp added by Pieter Van Der Pluijm or Bob Corritore, and one has some hard hitting blues and rocking R&B.

Deb Ryder has a presence that the musicians enhance throughout the variations in mood and songs. Sugaray Rayford duets with her on a funky blues "Get a Little Steam Up," while the guitars of Schell and Fletcher and Van Der Pluijm's harmonica create a swampy feel for the powerful title track where she prays for a miracle as "you can't try anymore and I can't cry anymore," as she sings about being "a moth to your flame," with the band adding an insistent backing. It is followed by "Sweet Mary Anne," a song recalling the summer of 1968, and sweet Mary Anne who everyone loved but who wanted to leave that town with crisp, punchy horns from Jim Sublett and Darrell Leonard adding to the flavor of this retro-soul rocker, while "Lord Knows I Do," is a terrific slow blues with some scintillating B.B. King styled guitar set against a stop-time accompaniment. The consistency of the performances here is noteworthy including the "River's Forgiveness," with Schell's guitar and Corritore's harp adding to the flavor of this moody performance contrasting with the frenzied boogie of "Prisoner of War," but even at this tempo, Ryder's vocal does not sound hurried or rushed.

The easy rocking shuffle "Right Side of the Grass" closes this recording. Special kudos to Finnigan's keyboards and Braunagel's solid drumming throughout this strong latest striking effort from Deb Ryder, who certainly has more than fulfilled the promise of her excellent earlier recordings.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the November-December 2016 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 369). Here is a promotional video for this recording.