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Friday, December 12, 2008

Review: Kaydi Johnson - Peasant Of The Wreck


Kaydi Johnson - Peasant Of The Wreck
2008, Roving Music

Kaydi Johnson tends to create a lot of buzz. She’s not your typical female singer-songwriter, mixing spoken word with singing and tackling hot-button topics with an ease that belies their prickly nature. She’s been a finalist in multiple songwriting competitions, and won the Avalonfest Songwriting Contest in 2008. She was also selected for the Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist Showcase in 2003. Her third album, Peasant Of The Wreck, continues in the same vein of edgy folk that Johnson has become known for.

Peasant Of The Wreck opens with the title track, a straightforward folk/rock song with blues in its heritage. Johnson has an incredibly smooth, pleasant voice that works very well, particularly in her lower range. Bonsai is an incredibly deep and remorseful song about two people who desperately want the same thing but just aren't right for one another. Johnson introduces electronic rhythms to support a mostly spoken word piece with sung chorus on Bed. This one just didn't work for me, reminding me a bit of Meryn Cadell without the detached humor.

Mary is a wonderful country tune with blues flavoring that returns to Johnson's spoken word over music with sung chorus. At 9:00 minutes this story-song is a stretch for the listener. Lady Going Down is a pleasant pop tune that may be the most commercial offering here. The song has a great melody. Other highlights include Cry, Drunken Houdini and Summer Place.

Kaydi Johnson is a decent songwriter. Her voice is very enjoyable in the lower register, but her vocal range would appear to be fairly compact based on the material here. At the end of the day, Peasant Of The Wreck is a good album, but not one that really cements itself in your mind. Kaydi Johnson does show some real talent for songwriting but this effort just comes off a little flat.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kaydi Johnson at http://www.kaydijohnsong.com/. You can purchase a copy of Peasant Of The Wreck at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kaydijohnson.

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