Katarina Pejak has journeyed throughout the world but make no mistake, this brilliant talent has arrived. Having earned Berklee’s prestigious Songwriting Achievement Award and receiving much critical acclaim for her three prior releases in her native Serbia, Pejak recorded this, Roads That Cross, her Ruf Records debut and breakout album in Texas with bluesman Mike Zito producing. Don’t let Zito’s name take you down the path of blues-rock, however. The classically trained Pejak is already a master of blues, jazz, country and rock n’ roll. Hence the album title.
Here’s how Zito recounts the Texas sessions – “A young woman from Serbia, surrounded by Americans. In Southeast Texas, takes the reins and leads this band into some of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. Her voice is subtle and seductive, her piano playing is on fire. She has emotion, passion, and a desperate need for the music to be magical.” That band has guitar wizard Laura Chavez on all but one track, bassist Lonnie Trevino Jr. on all but one, and drummer Damien Llanes on all but one. Zito plays guitar and adds vocals to “Moonlight Rider.”
Having won a scholarship to Boston’s renowned Berklee School of Music, consider that Pejak has already played with folks like Dave Limina, Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Mark Hummel, Ana Popovic (fellow Serbian to whom her voice will inevitably be compared to), and, of course, Zito. She’s a rising talent but hardly a newcomer, having hit the blues circuit in Serbia in her late teens.
Of the eleven, eight are pure originals, with Zito co-writing the opening “Nature of My Blues,” and covers of Joni Mitchell’s “Sex Kills” and Janis Joplin’s “Turtle Blues.” She reveals in the lyrics to the opener that she’s the consummate mix of sophistication and down-home grittiness with the lyric – “You ain’t dealin’ with no down-home girl/You wanna love me/Forget everything you know.” Mitchell’s “Sex Kills” features some piercing guitar barbs from Chavez. On “Cool Drifter” she exposes her soulful side in a tune about escapism as her keyboards make it sound like a full horn section is behind her. The guitar-driven “Moonlight Rider” is tone of the truest blues cut, naturally with Zito aboard. Pejak is at her seductive best on this one.
The tempo slows for “Old Pain” with Pejak’s church-like B3 prominent buttressing her emotional vocals. Pejak then brings the funk, as she pounds her Fender Rhodes for “Chasing Summer.” She captures the boogie-woogie piano stylings of Joplin’s “Turtle Blues” while fortunately singing in her own style, not trying to mimic Janis as so many try to futilely do. And, as expected Chavez rips a searing blues solo. After all, recording in Southeast Texas brings Janis to mind and spirit.
”Down With Me” brings some reggae flavor with its choppy beat. The moody, sexy “She’s Coming After You” follows with its Latin groove, echo-chamber guitars and a lyric about a femme fatale (perhaps a mirror image of herself judging by the photos) – “looks like the Devil’s daughter/Walks like a baroness.” She follows with another moody track, the title track, again with Fender Rhodes leading the way. Tinges of jazz imbue the closer “The Harder You Kick” where Pejak alternates in solo on Rhodes again in perhaps her best vocal performance.
Given Pejak’s journey from Serbia to Boston to Texas and now residence in Nashville, she’s used to bidding farewell. It’s in her subconscious. She reflects on the album, “I didn’t realise until after making the album but most of these songs are about good-byes.” Fortunately, we won’t be saying our goodbyes to Pejak for a good long time. As Zito says, “She’ll make you think. She’ll make you cry. By the end of this record, she’ll have you in the palm of her hand. For Katarina, this is only the beginning.” For us, thankfully too. Pejak’s songs will linger in your head for days on end.
