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Saturday, 17 December, 2011 8:22 PM
CMA New Artist Spotlight: 'Jessica
Ridley'
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Photo
credit: Tim Martens
New
country music star Jessica Ridley
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| By
Bob Doerschuk |
| ©
2011 CMA Close Up News Service |
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Raised in Airdrie, a
small town near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Jessica Ridley was a performer
from the start, putting on shows for family and friends at the age
of 18 months. Don Somerville heard her sing at her church one day
and persuaded her to sharpen her songwriting down in Nashville.
She made the trek at 21 and has been getting ready for Fit to Be
Tied from then up to the album’s release in June on EMG Universal.
Produced by Somerville,
Chris Omartian, Billy Simon and Michael Lee, her debut album takes
about one second to rope the listener in. The opening track, “Fit
to Be Tied,” is out of the gate immediately with a bouncy
groove anchored by a four-beat kick pattern. Over this, Ridley unfolds
a half-sung, half-rapped tale of a bride’s last-minute jitters
just before walking down the aisle. Her tongue-tripping vocal on
the verses, bookended by backbeat-driven choruses, skims playfully
over the rhythm, teases a few laughs and even ends with the story’s
moral — a bow that makes this package complete.
Written by Ridley with
producers Lee and Somerville, “Fit to Be Tied” is one
of four songs on the album that she co-wrote. She also makes the
rest of these 13 tracks her own. Bob Carlisle and Dennis Patton
penned her first single, “Flaming Red,” but its wistful
first verse, rhythmic lyric at the top of the chorus and overall
exultation, provide a perfect vehicle for Ridley. With minimal vibrato
and underplayed phrasing, her voice relates a rainbow of expression
and hits the high notes with neither effort nor effect. Whether
letting the melody and plaintive narrative speak for themselves
on “Cinderella Shoes” (Simon) or pouring on the sass
throughout “Hit and Run” (Bill Champlin, Somerville
and Jim Windle), she brings the material to life in the light of
her already distinctive style.
IN HER OWN WORDS
MUSICAL HERO
“George Strait.”
DREAM DUET PARTNER
“Vince Gill.”
SONG YOU SING IN
THE SHOWER
“All the songs I might be rehearsing at the moment!”
MOMENT YOU’D
LIKE TO RELIVE
“First kiss.”
BOOK ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND
“The Bible and a Frank Peretti book called House.”
PET PEEVE
“Getting groceries and finding out you forgot one thing when
you get back home.”
SONG YOU WISH YOU’D
WRITTEN
“‘Stop Loving You’ by Toto.”
TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“Read My Lips.”
SOMETHING WE’D
NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU
“I’m completely terrified of spiders and strange showers.”
On the Web: www.JessicaRidley.com
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