My wife and I were living in our first apartment in Athens when late one night I was watching TV alone and Norah Jones' video for "Don't Know Why" came on. I didn't know who Jones was. I didn't know what that music was but I couldn't shake free of it. It reached into my chest with its wistful longing and regret and took me hostage.
A couple years later, I came in contact with a label rep for Yellow Dog Records who had a new record from Eden Brent, who I'd never heard of. I read her bio and found it compelling personally and musically. Brent formed a special bond with the late blues pianist "Boogaloo" Ames and went on the road with them, the two of them learning from each other. Through that relationship and her own independent musical studies, Brent struck out on her own and awed audiences, winning the International Blues Challenge.
The label rep sent me this new CD and I felt a similar gravitational pull towards Mississippi No. 1 that I'd experienced with Come Away With Me. My review of that album was one of the first to hit the 'net, which I only know because I wanted to find out if anyone else was feeling the same way.
The Eden Brent phenomenon didn't have the same meteoric reach as Jones' debut but since Mississippi No. 1, Brent has won multiple Blues Music Awards and the title track from her upcoming album Aint Got No Troubles has been featured at NPR. Our little Eden is all grow'd up, no longer the girl from small town Mississippi with big dreams.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Norah Jones level success? No, I don't think so. Not even close. Jones worked because she had that low-key, laid-back thing going, and it worked across fans of many genres and ages. And it was kind of "romantic" - it really, really appealed to women. This is way too specifically blues-oriented, and kind of a hard blues, at that. She's got kind of a Bonnie Raitt thing going in her voice, so she may snag some fans from that contingent, however.
2 - Josh Hathaway
Well I am not predicting, Tom, but I'm hoping for it and doing my part to spread the word. We "see" how it happened for Norah in retrospect but no one was betting on that. Sometimes these things are predictable and every once in awhile we get a welcome surprise. I'd love for that to happen to Eden and this record because it's beautiful.
This title track was featured at NPR not long ago on one of their programs and I love it. Of course I loved her previous record, too. Some songs are more blues-infused than others but to me there's a beautiful mixture of simple and sophisticated sounds that are timeless, warm, and welcoming. I'm convinced that if a couple brave programmers -- particularly in the South -- were to give this or a couple of the other songs on this record a chance that it would find a wider audience beyond conventional blues listeners. The NPR thing doesn't point to the youth but I think there's a sizable adult demographic that would buy the shit out of this record if they only knew about it.
It's a great record whether it sells 5 copies or 5M. I'm going to try and help spread that word, though.
3 - Josh Hathaway
Saleski likes it. Can you believe he and I agree on something? :)
4 - Joanie
Ugh, you brought up Norah again. :P I'm definitely not the fan you are of hers, but I am as big a fan, if not more, of Eden's. Eden has more depth and breadth to her music. It comes from a place that's so much richer in terms of soul. However, Norah hit the lotto in terms of marketing and finding a niche, so I'll give her that.
You may commence to stoning me now.
5 - Josh Hathaway
Yeah, you better duck and run, Joanie, but for the moment we'll let the Norah blasphemy slide and revel in the goodness that is Eden's new album.