Sandy Carroll — Blues & Angels

Label: Catfood Records

Within seconds, on her new album, Blues & Angels, singer/songwriter Sandy Carroll has her usual effect on me. One or two verses from her sympathetic, yet intoxication, vocals and I am in the mood for blues. I can’t get enough of her delivery, doused in spirit and dripping with meaning. It’s a first class ticket to a listening experience that reminds you that the blues can sometimes be as intimate and personal as a heartbeat.

The album is a collection of originals, co-written by Carroll and collaborators including Mark Namore, William Lee Ellis, and Stephanie C Brown. The album covers a vast musical landscape, including Memphis blues, gospel, contemporary Christian, and New Orleans-inspired grooves.

Produced by Jim Gaines, Blues & Angels features Sandy Carroll on piano and vocals, along with a team of solid musicians: Will McFarlane, Johnny Rawls, Rocky Athas, Bernard Allison, Steve Potts, Dave Smith, Rick Steff, Derrick Young, and Steve Selvidge, along with David Hood, Clayton Ivy and Justin Holder. Background vocalists include Reba Russell, Rachel Robinson, Nancy Apple, Lorina McMinn, Trey Hardin, Daunielle Hill and Barbara Blue.

Carroll makes wise decisions about how to best use her voice with a song. While sounding so perfectly natural, she maintains such control of her instrument that she maximizes its effect. Sandy Carroll is the essence of both the blues and angels.