Obadiah (Bonus Track Version)

Jolie Holland wasn’t the only one with an otherworldly voice to come from Americana folk trio the Be Good Tanyas. Frazey Ford was raised in a family of French Canadian folk musicians, but you wouldn’t know this from hearing her rootsy, R&B-steeped debut album Obadiah. Without sounding like a neo-soul throwback (not that there’s anything wrong with that), Ford retains her vibrato inflections from the Be Good Tanyas (along with some stellar guitar work from Tanyas’ Trish Klein), but with just a dash of Ann Peebles inspired fever in her pitch over the low warbling grinds of a Hammond organ. As soulfully as Obadiah resonates, it’s not without some folky vestiges, as heard on a timeless cover of Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee.” There’s even some tastefully plucked banjo on the opening standout “Firecracker” and coffeehouse six-strings strum throughout “Hey Little Mama,” though the album really blossoms on the slow-burning, late-night strut of “Blue Streak Mama.” Bonus tune “Lovers In a Dangerous Time” reveals that some hard living/loving helped fuel the fire of tunesmithing these exquisite recordings.