Every once in a while a singer comes along who is larger than life: big sound, big attitude and tons of charisma. NYC blue singer Lex Grey fits that description. With enough power to let the plaster come down from the ceiling she follows the footsteps of Janis Joplin, Mandy Lemons Nikides and Amy Winehouse. With her band The Urban Pioneers she has been tearing it up in the great NY area, setting stage on fire with her confident, strong and sexy brand of blues rock. Her latest album Usual Suspects does not beat around the bush. Get in her way and you are in serious trouble (Warrior Squaw). On the other hand, if she fancies a someone, things wild get wild and rowdy (Chow Down) or jazzy in the superb Sunshine and Blue, aided by Chris Pasin's in the pocket trumpet fills.
Grey pays tribute to late great Steve Ray Vaughn and the joy of dropping the needle on a favorite record with SRV, a hip shaking boogie song that also nods to ZZ Top. Cheap Thrills is a devil-may-care road tip outlaw country rocker that could have been written by Kris kristofferson. She is an artist's artist, who has been praised by Warren Haynes and Rick Danko. This lady is a big fish in an underground niche, relying on her mouth of mouth to get the word out. Thankfully she has released seven albums so far, so there's plenty more to discover.
Usual Suspects is released thru Pioneer Recordings. Buy it from CD Baby.
Tracks:- Usual Suspects
- Chow Down
- Dirty Secret
- SRV
- Warrior Squaw
- Sunshine and Blue
- Cheap Thrills
- My Jerry Roll
- Renegade Heart