Susan Shore
BOOK OF DAYS
Waterbug - 0031
visit Susan's website
and on myspace
available on cd baby
Susan Shore has one of the strongest, clearest, purest voices you have heard in a long time. It is the dominant instrument on this disc. It is a voice that at times exudes warmth and compassion, at other times it almost assumes a spook life of its own, echoing the tone of the song, as on JOSEPH'S GIRLS. There are times when it almost overpowers the lyrics (it is hard to come up with a more apt description), and takes over the song without regard for the lyrics. She writes finely crafted songs that might be fitted into any number of different genres such as singer/songwriter, county folk, or maybe even going to 'countrybilly'. She definitely keeps your attention with her unusual arrangements, sometimes using instrumental arrangement as a counterpoint to the melody. A very interesting disc that seems to hold a lot of promise for a fine songsmith. She wrote 7 of the 12 songs on the disc. The backing musicians do a good job with the music and there is some very fine bass playing by Marty Christensen. I have to admit a great fondness for both duet with Al Day on FRANK & RED, and her version of her song ALIVE. This disc bodes of fine things to come for this Iowa based singer/songwriter with the voice as clear as the skies.
Songs, times, and writers
1. IF I COULD DREAM - 2:39 - Shore
2. SHADOW ON YOUR SHOULDER - 3:46 - Shore
3. HIGHTAILED - 3:01 - Bell
4. SAFE AMONG THE FAMILY - 4:00 - Shore
5. FRANK AND RED - 4:16 - Day
6. JOSEPH'S GIRLS - 4:43 - Shore
7. ALIVE - 3:41 - Shore
8. CHRISTOPHER - 3:37 - McCandless
9. MY OLD MAN - 3:54 - Shore
10. SEA OF FREEDOM - 3:59 - McCandless
11. THIS MUST BE PARADISE - 3:09 - McCandless
12. THE GREAT DIVIDE /THE LITTLE WALTZ - 4:24 - Shore
Musicians
Susan Shore - guitar, vocals
Sarah Allen - drums
Marty Christensen - electric bass
Al Day - vocals and guitar on FRANK AND RED
Marc Edelstein - string bass
John Lake - acoustic and electric guitar
Bob Long - organ, accordion
James McCandless - harmony vocals
Al Murphy - fiddle, mandolin
Don Stiernberg - mandolin, fiddle
Produced by Susan Shore and Victor Sanders