Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The point of momentum is that it must be given a reason to continue, and lest inertia or entropy emerge and eat away at the beauty of the energy provided, like rust on a steel heart, it must not only Get Goin’, but it must also be prepared to avoid the effects of Time that suggests that the end is a welcome release.
Across most genres of music the one that perhaps came close to finding itself to a kind of artistic extinction at the end of the 20th Century was Blues; it may have survived, but it’s lack of influence outside of dogged and resilient performers such as Robert Cray was observed, and perhaps keenly illustrated by those whose agenda under the term of modernistic evolution was to sweep away that which no longer spoke for millions due to a mindset driven by sociopolitical art rather than the beat of a truth emphasised by the sound of heart’s breaking in joy.
Momentum is the reward for endurance, and the inertia felt as the last century found itself winding down, so Blues underwent a renaissance, and those that have followed in the path of the modern Godfather, Joe Bonamassa, have continued to breathe life into that which was arguably rusting away.
Katie Henry is a believer, that much is certain as the New Jersey born artist brings her own aural landscape to the fore, and in her latest release of Get Goin’ the multi-instrumentalist leads the listener into the next generation of 21st Century blues players that not only kick out at lethargy and apathy that has drilled down in current society as we find it impossible to withdraw from the constant hits that life throws at us, but which, as Katie Henry shows with huge application across the album, bows to no one in regards to how entertaining the music is.
The high intensity and octane fuelled delivery is encapsulated by tracks such as A Doll’s Heart, Voodoo Woman, The Lion’s Den, the brilliance of the album’s finale of Nobody’s Fault But Mine, and its bookended opener of Love Like Kerosene, Katie Henry’s chemistry with her fellow musicians and the listener’s heart is as fierce as can be hoped, as is needed in today’s shy and awkward world.
A work of endurance and endearing cool, Katie Henry’s Get Goin’ leaves others behind at the starting blocks revving their engines, unaware that the flag dropped.
Ian D. Hall