Artist: Shelley Miller
Album: When It's All Gone, You Come Back
Website: http://www.shelleymiller.net
Genre: Americana, Folk, Acoustic
Technical Grade: 10/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 10/10
Commercial Value: 10/10
Overall Talent Level: 10/10
Songwriting Skills: 10/10
Performance Skill: 10/10
Best Songs: Buckle To Burn, Nadine, Wait For You,
CD Review:
Wow! I just listened to Shelley Miller’s third CD, When It’s All Gone, You Come Back, several times. Wow! This is a white hot talent in full bloom. Miller’s songwriting is stripped down to essentials and the results are so clear and true. The arrangements and
production by John Abbey are the perfect frame for Miller’s excruciatingly expressive voice. Miller is joined by a variety of musicians including Micah Walk, Steve Dawson, Joe Darnaby, Ari Levi, and Tabitha Lydon.
Miller’s songs are very well crafted with strong lyrics and interesting, tuneful melodies. The first cut, Buckle To Burn, contains lines like:
If beer can confessions were the same as affection,
I'd have married you five times this week
But the rings 'round my eyes don't come close to fitting on my finger
Every song is strong but the haunting Nadine simply stole my heart. The delicate guitar work against a mournful violin and Miller’s stunning vocal are breathtaking. The inner tension of the song is maintained with lyrics like:
You say your father was a weapon and you the target of choice
We spread our coats like blankets over the fire of maple leaves
I curl into the smoke of your voice
Bookbag hard beneath my head, your fingers soft, cigarettes on my
tongue
And there is no word for being
This strong and this undone
But it’s not just the richly descriptive songs, Shelley Miller’s voice is alternately endearing, mournful, sinful, and soulful. She breathes an intense fire into every song on this CD that brings them vividly to life. When It’s All Gone, You Come Back is a must have CD. This is songwriting and performance at the highest level. I think that Shelley Miller’s When It’s All Gone, You Come Back will be one my top picks for the year 2010.
Artist: Shelley Miller
