Ready To Receive by Claudia Russell

Fans of Song Food will find the familiar Russell themes of love, longing and loss, with Russell's expressive vocals right out front and her signature guitar style right behind her. Kaplan's mandolin playing shows development since the first record and is brought forward on the new record.

"We were not afraid to color outside the lines on this record," says Kaplan. "The album is a folk record at its heart, but we had fun with several of the tunes and flirted with styles ranging from CSNY-esque type rock on "He Ain't Coming Back" to quasi-techno sounds on "Misfortune. But Claudia pulls it all together with her vocals."

Reviews are complimentary. Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald says:

"Sweet-voiced Claudia Russell is recognizably herself on her second independent release, "Ready To Receive," yet the antique, acoustic, elegant string-band approach of "Song Food" has been quite transformed. The new album is sleeker, more electric, less retro, and this time around there are a few modern edges to both the lyrics and the vocals.

There exists on "Ready To Receive" a sense of a life lived, a character explored, a modern west coast womanhood revealed. From the innocently seductive "Ready To Receive" to the saucy, jaded bon mots of "Lie To Me," you could say this is an album of relationship songs. Yet there is not a ponderous or heavy-handed passage on it. It doesn't brood or preach, it sways and dances along.

Though still a fine song-finder, Russell has written half the new album herself, some songs along with producer Bruce Kaplan. The songs of "Ready To Receive" possess an unusually large range of styles and sounds, and even the Russell voice changes course a few times. But the beating heart of the album is constant."

Ready To Receive draws on Russell's wide circle of friends for contributions. Some players reprise their role from Russell's earlier CD, notably percussionist Debra Dobkin, Eric Lewis on Dobro and Carl Byron on Keyboards. Players new to this record are Duane and Kevin Jarvis, Dave Raven, bassists Joey Zimmerman, Todd Cooke and Hank Van Sickle, Brantley Kearns, blues-monster harmonica player Judy Rudin, and guitarist Joel Wachbrit. And Russell has co-written several songs with Kaplan, Scott Wakefield, tour mate Anny Celsi and Jeff Talmadge, who Russell met when each were finalists in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Songwriting Contest.

The CD was recorded in studios all over the country including Nu Star Studios in Memphis and Live Oak in Berkeley, CA (where the couple now reside). Tracking and overdub sessions occurred at Stagg Street Studios in Van Nuys (with Erich Gobel engineering) and Grandma's Warehouse, Echo Park (with Andrew Bush at the board). Typical of independent projects, some overdubs were done in the duo's ProTools project studio in Culver City. The CD was mixed by Hans Christian at Allemande music in Sister Bay, Wisconsin and mastered by Paul Stubblebine in San Francisco.

All Radio Ryhtm Records releases come with a money back gaurantee. In the unlikely case that you don't like the CD, email us for a full refund--no questions asked.

For more information visit www.claudiarussell.com or call Bruce Kaplan at 310-628-9589.

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