(Croatian to English Translation Below)
Soundguardian (Croatia) Review by Mladen Loncar (Mike)
BLUES CORNER
Donna Herula - "Bang At The Door"From a really nice bunch of albums that have their own street date today, I chose "Bang At The Door," signed and released by the brilliant Chicago blues musician Donna Herula. Like many times before, the exclusive was provided to us by the Memphis promoter Blind Raccoon.
This is the third studio album by this inspired singer and guitarist, and she is accompanied by Tony Nardiello in this project. The two teamed up with 2019 IBC winner Producer Jon Shain and bassist FJ Ventre. And around this team gathered an impressive band consisting of Doug Hammer (piano), Dana Thalheimer (drums), Tony Pons (trumpet), and Bill Newton (harmonica) and there are special guests, violinist Anne Harris and pianist Daryl Davis.
An album consisting of eleven songwriting tracks and three covers was created at Good Luck Studio in Chapel Hill. "Bang At The Door" is an exceptional album, which at its core, brings great blues in its traditional atmosphere. It, we all know, is adorned with an incredibly clean, wide open, relaxed and spontaneous sound, so without any hesitation you can feel the musicians sailing and with their interactive gig just discovering all the beauty of the blues.
An impressive musical mix carried by the influence of the traditions of The New Orleans, Delta, Piedmont and Hill Country Blues will undoubtedly win you over, as it did myself, at first. Yes, it is this blend that creates, makes and brings what you can, if you are in it, listen to, literally, for a very long time.
Donna, with her gig and pure, full vocals, is excellently complemented by the backing team and together they have delivered us an album that can be listened to on many occasions. The fact is that on "Bang At The Door" we get a strong message from Donna that in this story no matter what, she is not alone, that collaborating with associated musicians simply just took her to a very challenging, higher level of presentation form. She is no longer alone, Donna's just sliding alongside these musicians now and we actually hear that she can do just about do anything. With the same intensity of the sensitivity of form, she enjoys a great palette of presentations of various musical styles which pays tribute in various ways to her mentor Sonny Payne, as well as to Bukka White in "Fixin' To Die". Personally, I believe that the instrumental "Black Ice", just like "Who's Been Cooking In My Kitchen" will throw many blues connoisseurs into "bad" precisely because of its authenticity and strong guitar "pickin"' message. Extremely emotional "Something's Wrong With My Baby", as well as the grand finale of the album in Willie Johnson's legendary "The Soul Of A Man" is certainly the striking stamp with which Donna closes this great album. Donna, well done!
RECOMMENDATION
Donna Herula's third studio album brings us a great musical story that I actually recommend to everyone to listen to listen to and I believe that whoever didn’t think or know that traditional blues can be so drinkable and listenable, that in its simplicity it actually hides a great musical wealth. Let Donna Herula's Bang At The Door defiantly be a part of your library.Find out more about everything at: www.donnaherula.com www.facebook.com/DonnaHerulaMusic www.twitter.com/DonnaHerula www.instagram.com/donnaherula www.youtube.com/c/DonnaHerula blindraccoon.com/clients/donna-herula