Wandering Strange

Description

Wandering Strange is an album the American singer and songwriter Kate Campbell, released on Eminent Records in 2001. According to All Music Guide the album is “a treat for fans of religious and secular music alike, Campbell’s homecoming displays the class and taste that very few, save Emmylou Harris, are capable of summoning.”

Whether she’s singing 18th-century hymns, gospel standards, or her own songs, Kate Campbell has a strong, plainspoken power. Grounded in the Baptist church (her father was a preacher), she sings songs so simple they could easily be overwhelmed. But on Wandering Strange, with a Muscle Shoals band made up of Walt Aldridge (acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki), David Hood (bass), and Spooner Oldham (piano, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3), the playing is beautifully balanced, spare, and soulful. The material crosses country with southern soul and is both contemporary and traditional, with new songs like «10,000 Lures» and «Bear It Away» fitting perfectly alongside older hymns. The strength of Wandering Strange is its simplicity; it evokes all the timeless, loving power of the gospel. [Kenny Berkowitz, Acoustic Guitar, #103]

Right about now New York City and Long Island are waiting to get socked in with at least two feet of snow over the next two days. I hate snow! What can I do to get out of here? I know, I’ll go “Wandering Strange” with Kate Campbell. This disc conjures up so many mental pictures that I can let my imagination take me away from all this white stuff outside. Picture a bunch of guys sitting on a front porch in the country on a cool spring night. Each of them has a tall glass of their favorite drink in one hand and a hot smoking bowl of Captain Black in the other. The topics for the evening range from good music to things of a more eternal nature. Or if you would, picture a group of families sitting on the lawn in back of church on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the summertime enjoying barbecued steak and baked potatoes while listening to a young woman singing and playing her guitar. These are only two of the places that this album has taken so far. One other place that it will definitely take you is to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, home of some of the best music in the world.

With this new release, her first for Eminent Records, singer/songwriter Kate Campbell delivers an album of gospel music in the best sense of the term. What we have here is a collection of traditional songs as well original tunes and a cover of an old Gordon Lightfoot song. Enlisting some of the best session men in the business, such as Spooner Oldham, David Hood and Walt Aldridge this is a disc that will soon become a classic as well as a favorite among lovers of good music. This is not only a great spiritual album, it is also just good old rock n roll. Bill Mallonee turned me on to Kate about a year or so ago, Remind me to thank him the next time I see him and don’t forget to check out her website at www.katecampbell.com. My favorite cuts are: «10,000 Lures», «Now Is the Day of Salvation» and «Bear It Away». [Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock, The Phantom Tollbooth, 3/7/2001]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/wandering-strange/21997186)

CD tracklist:

01. The House You Live In – 3:31
02. Come Thou Fount – 3:22
03. There Is A Fountain – 4:40
04. 10,000 Lures – 4:31
05. The Prodigal – 4:09
06. Now Is The Day Of Salvation – 4:49
07. Bear It Away – 4:05
08. Jordan’s Stormy Banks – 4:06
09. The King’s Business – 3:49
10. Dear Little Stranger – 3:30
11. The Last Song – 4:45