It appears that blues/soul artist Christine Parri moved to Nashville to get shit done. Having grown up in a musical household developing her guitar, piano, voice, drums and songwriting chops, Parri continued her musical education at Berklee in Boston and then moved to Music City a few years back. Here, she rerecorded her debut EP, Countdown to the One, with some very solid support: Dusty Parker on guitar, David Roe Rodrick on bass, Kery Greene on keys, John Salaway on drums, Aaron Till on fiddle, Chazz Williams on saxophone and Regina and Ann McCrary doing backup vocals, who debuted as Parri’s backing band at Nashville’s Spring Blues Festival on Memorial Day this year.
The remake of Countdown was recorded, mixed and mastered at Jay’s Place, DaCapo and Independent Mastering, respectively, and it reflects Parri’s love for blues and soul with her own refined pop touch.
“I Don’t Know What Can’t Means Anymore” opens the record with fiery organ trilling over words of self-empowerment followed by layers of bluesy female backup for Parri’s warnings on “Girlfriend Law,” which brought to mind Aretha’s own threats from “Think.”
“What If I Do” is the mid-record seductive spot with a pulsating bass and quiet, sporadic sax parts beneath Parri’s lush vocals that reach sweet high notes and provocative low notes. The title track wins for best groove, on which country strings mix with a languid jazz rhythm. Parri is often compared to veteran blues artist Susan Tedeschi, which is pretty spot-on. When so many, especially female, voices out there are built for pop, Parri’s is refreshingly built for R&B, and it delivers both when she leans more toward blues (“Went to Bed”) and more toward soul (“I Don’t Know What Can’t Means Anymore”).
Countdown to the One is available on CD Baby.