Carolyn Wonderland - Truth Is

In 2021, Texas blueswoman Carolyn Wonderland released Tempting Fate, her Alligator debut. She'd been in the game for two decades. Dave Alvin produced, played, and sang on it, alongside a cast of Texas luminaries. It was greeted with excited reviews from the rock and blues press, enhancing her touring reputation. Alvin is a big presence on Truth Is, her sophomore outing for the label. He produces, plays, and co-wrote four songs with Wonderland. Her trio -- Naj Conklin on basses and Giovanni "Nooch" Carnuccio on drums and percussion -- host a studio cast that includes vocalists Shelley King, Marcia Ball, and Ruthie Foster, organist Red Young, pianist/organist Bukka Allen, lap steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, and others.

Wonderland spent years playing with John Mayall (one of two men the set is dedicated to), so she understands the cellular relationship between blues and most American musical forms he put forth, and showcases them in these cuts. Truth Is ranges far and wide, whether it's in the scorching lap steel wrangle of opener "Sooner or Later" or the funky blues gospel in "I Ain't Going Back," with her three-voice chorale of Ball, Foster, and King. Her screaming guitar break is as poignant as her lyrics. It segues into the title cut, a rocking blue shuffle kissed by Texas R&B, centered around her tight, slippery riffing. "Let's Play a Game" is arguably the album's finest cut. A souled-out, socially aware secular gospel tune, it reflects on challenges in attempting to live and work while confronting crushing obstacles -- spiritual, political, economic, and romantic. "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard Again," co-written with Alvin, is a swinging honky tonk blues with killer piano work from Young, the unruly vocals of Wonderland and King, and a swaggering groove until it breaks down into a whistling, lap steel-driven ragtime blues. "It Should Take" could have been written by Ball. In the pumping NOLA-tinged piano jam, her vocal claims the fore and won't let go. She also sings lead on a truly wonderful reading of Richard Manuel's "Orange Juice Blues." It's raw, loose, and rowdy with great vocal interplay between Ball, King, and Foster. The leader and Alvin engage in some sparking guitar work and take the solos further than the Band ever did. "Tattoos As His Talisman" is a sweaty bar-band boogie offered in grand Texas style with choogling, distorted guitars. "Flowers In Bloom" commences as a singer/songwriter ballad with lovely, sensitive guitar work from Wonderland and King, as their joined vocals ratchet up the drama. "Deepest Ocean Blue" weds a Gulf Coast groove to Caribbean rhythms in a celebration of love. Set closer "Blues for Gene" is for the other man the record is dedicated to: blues pianist Gene Taylor, whose stylistic range influenced Wonderland's. The conversation between hers and Alvin's guitars is tight. Truth Is stands with 2021's Tempting Fate in a continuum of modern blues, but it's far more diverse and direct in delivering a genuinely kaleidoscopic blues. 

Thom Jurek ~ AllMusicGuide