CD Review: Fire it Up!
by the Laurie Morvan Band
By Mark Smith | Blues Source | November 10, 2009
Laurie Morvan throws all the stereotypes about good looking
blondes out the window. Not only is she spooky smart, with
degrees in Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics
and stints as a pilot and college professor to her credit,
she is a highly talented guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Instead of wasting her talent competing with pop tartlets
seeking top 40 success, she has wisely chosen to focus on
the blues making her a pretty big fish in a small pond.
While there are countless female blues singers who write
their own material, there are few who also lead their own
band and can outmatch their male counterparts on guitar
like she can. She not only can lay down a boogie or shuffle
with the best of them; she can also rock or play with tasteful
restraint as necessary in service of the songs, a skill
sadly missing from the bulk of the sound alike members of
the six string blues army.
On this, her 4th disc, she lays down plenty of jaw dropping
guitar work while leading her band through 12 original tunes
that run the gamut from saucy, double entendre laden cuts
(Come on Over to My BBQ) to astute observations that good
girls are just bad girls that haven’t been caught
(Good Girls Bad Girls), to promises of solid support no
matter what burden you need carried (Let Me Carry Your Troubles)
and a plea that women with normal figures get some attention
in the blues world (Skinny Chicks). Along the way, she also
rails against the injustice of having to work harder to
prove herself than any guy who straps on a guitar but is
quick to point out that she doesn’t want pity because
it’s the life she’s chosen (Livin’ In
A Man’s World). Morvan also has a tender side, yearning
for deep connections (Lay Your Hands) and agonizing over
being the next broken promise (Testify). Rounding things
out she includes a couple of party ready anthems, Nothing
But the Blues and I Speak The Blues, which utilize the well
worn cliché of making the blues the subject of a
blues song, but are fine listens nevertheless and will likely
keep the dance floor full. Keep your eyes on Laurie Morvan,
she’s likely already thinking about the next step
in her conquest of the blues world. - Mark Smith
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