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We’re living in the age of the blue-eyed female soul singer. Perhaps it was the late Amy Winehouse that paved the way for the likes of Courtney Marie Andrews, Erin Costello, Amy Boone of The Delines, Tami Neilson, Mandy Barnett, and others who have plied this turf recently. Enter Liz Brasher, who created quite a buzz with last April’s EP Outcast. That, together with her appearance at 2018’s SXSW make her full length debut, Painted Image highly anticipated. And, Brasher does not disappoint.
Brasher is a southerner with an interesting mix. She was raised in rural North Carolina in a musical, multi-ethnic household. So the term “blue-eyed soul” shouldn’t be taken too literally. “I’m half Dominican, half Italian, and also Southern,” she says. Growing up singing Baptist hymns in an all-Spanish church, she offers this perspective, “it’s a different type of southerner, and that’s why the music I make sounds like a different type of the south. By nature, I’m mixed. That’s been my whole life – having to reconcile two different cultures, or the religious and secular world, or the different genres that have all influenced me, From the time I was born, I realized I was going to be a big mix.”
Brasher is a guitar-slinging bandleader and songwriter, not simply a vocalist, though that will naturally and justifiably draw the most attention. One listen to ‘Cold Baby” and you’ll have to agree that she can wail with the best of them. She gained traction fronting a three-piece band, championed as a “soul power trio” in Atlanta before moving to Memphis, where she is now flourishing. As Brasher has long favored not only the sounds of the church but of the Box Tops, Memphis seemed almost pre-destined. For this effort, Brasher plays both guitar and keyboards in a trio format on some tracks and enlists the support of Memphis’ best on others, including Al Gamble (piano), Scott (guitar), and horn players Marc Franklin and Kirk Smothers.
Brasher would object to any kind of simple categorization of her music. It’s easy to simply call her a soul singer with her immense powerhouse vocals but her influences run deep. She can render torch songs (“Air”, “Moon Baby”, title track), Adele-like pop ((“Every Day”), dancefloor rave-ups (“Living Water, ”Love Feasts”), and Stax -like soul (“Hand to the Plow,” ”Heaven and Earth”). Listen more closely and you’ll find ‘60s garage rock like the Detroit Cobras (“Blood of the Lamb,” “Body of Mine”),), and blues (“Cold Baby”)drawn from her southern roots. She claims to be influenced by a range of artists from Pop Staples to the surf guitar groups like the Ventures, using both tremolo and reverb guitar effects. Throughout, her music has shimmering power, a balance between the gritty and the smooth, with her booming voice transporting you to some dreamy places.
In Brasher’s words, “I make music that’s garage rock meets the Delta blues meets gospel meets soul. It’s southern music – my version of southern music.” In the tune “Body of Mine” her refrain is “One day I’m gonna be somebody.” That day is already here. Count on this unbridled phenom to be with us for a good long time. This is her auspicious beginning.
