Erin is a sweet voiced singer from the St Louis area with a smooth jazzy vibe. I didn't have to think twice about it. Once I heard a sample track of her music I was hooked! I love the way she approaches a song with a light, sweet touch. You don't have to be a diva to please me! Erin's so easy on the ears! Much has been written about her impeccable phrasing. I totally agree. The only cd I own is the one shown above, Don't Take Your Time, but they're all great. I started cherry picking from her other albums when people started giving me I-Tunes gift cards, so I have a goodly number of her tracks on my Ipod. The only down side is that I can only enjoy the one album at work, where I do most of my listening. That means I'm going to have to break down and buy some more of her hard copies soon! I'll list some of the tracks I particularly like with a brief explanation:
The title track of Don't Take Your Time is a good place to start. It's a song she and band mate Adam Maness co-wrote and is pretty typical of their stuff. It just swings nicely along grabbing you as it goes. Her take on Bill Monroe's In the Pines is a change of pace. It comes on as a chiller - almost sinister. Interesting choice for a jazz singer. I love the jazzy vibe she attaches to Dylan's Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You. Great stuff! Her take on Cindy Lauper's Time After Time while maybe not as unique as Eva Cassidy's is definitely Erin's own interpretation. I love it! The last songs on Don't Take Your Time that really grab me are I've Never Been in Love Before and Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You. Both swing and are great takes on classic songs. Songs I really enjoy from some of her other albums are: Holiday, Graceland (you gotta check this one out!), New England Friends, Chasing After You, The Little Garden, Photograph and Telescope. These are just sample. Like I said before, her stuff is great and all albums are worth giving a listen to. Her latest album, Photograph departs from her jazzy vibe taking on a more adult contemporary approach, still beautiful. Erin also has a wonderful Christmas album called Cold December Night that she and her band recorded in a cabin in the woods of Erin's home state Minnesota. Chilly setting, but the music is warm and wonderful. Here's a Utube link to one of the songs from her Little Garden cd:
Don't know if I'll ever get to see Erin perform. She keeps pretty much to her home state of Missouri, but I'll sure continue to enjoy her music. The Internet is such a blessing!
Rating for Don't Take Your Time: 4 stars
