12/1/2006

Hal Horowitz

After touring America for the past five years, winning the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category, and recording a live album in Atlanta, Lucky 13 is Australian singer/guitarist Fiona Boyes' debut U.S. release. It was worth the wait.

Recorded in Austin, Texas, and produced by horn player Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff, Boyes penned all but three tracks on this eclectic, sparkling set. Marcia Ball and Bob Margolin provide assistance, but the album doesn't really need their support; though horns, piano, fiddle, and accordion inject flavor into these tracks, the spotlight remains on Boyes' sexy vocals and snaky guitar work, which stays on low boil but infuses each song with backwoods blues.

Boyes' deep, soulful voice is similar to Ball's and every bit as powerful. She boogies with the best on "High Cotton," her voice shifting effortlessly from guttural to flowing. The pace slows to midtempo for the Cajun-flavored Crescent City groove of "Homesick Blues," and the album winds its way through swinging jump blues ("Big Bigger Biggest"), acoustic grooves ("Rambling Man Blues"), R&B-infused zydeco (a peppy "Hold Me"), and second-line funk ("You Gonna Miss Me") as if Boyes and her band were born and raised in the States.

Kazanoff's production leaves plenty of space for Boyes to spread out, even as he swamps up the sound on the opening "Chicken Wants Corn" and the tuba-enhanced ragtime funk of "Celebrate the Curves." The sizzle of Boyes' snappy picking and Joel Guzman's accordion brings an edgy tartness to the commercial-sounding R&B tune "Stranger in Your Eyes," which could be a standout single. Boyes mixes ease and professionalism with the soul of someone who comes by the blues naturally, making Lucky 13 one of the year's standout albums.