Search - Deb Callahan :: Grace & Grit

Philadelphia s blues and soul drenched vocalist and songwriter, Deb Callahan grew up in the Boston area but has been a fixture on the mid-Atlantic music scene since the late 90 s. During this time she has gained a reputation for writing creative blues, soul and roots influenced original music and using her powerful, emotionally expressive voice and engaging stage presence to deliver a unique, high energy live show. Deb s 2002 debut CD If the Blues Had Wings, garnered her positive acclaim from the blues and roots community and was featured as the hot debut in the October/November 2004 issue of Blues Revue Magazine . Blues Revue referred to her as the next Bonnie Raitt and raved "Philly s Deb Callahan has the pipes, the songs and the raw talent to graduate to the next level". Deb released her sophomore CD The Blue Pearl in November 2005 where she teamed up with producer and song-writer Chris Arms, to craft a contemporary sounding CD with all the elements of timeless blues, soul and rock music. From the New Orleans blues/funk of the title track "Blue Pearl Moon " to the marriage of traditional and modern in the "Credit Card Blues ". Deb incorporates thoughtful and often funny lyrics to tell a modern day blues tale. In a review of The Blue Pearl, Living Blues described Deb as a gifted song-writer whose voice is matchless in the ring of sultry blues singers . Her most recent effort Grace & Grit was released in September of 2008. Deb once again collaborated with producer Chris Arms and featured original music as well as a cover of one of her favorite Ray Charles songs Hallelujah I love him so and a few a capella snippets of songs sung by Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin who have all been strong influences. One of the goals of this record was to go for a more live sound to capture the energy and spontaneity that live performance can bring. Thus all the vocal tracks were recorded with the band live in the studio. Grace & Grit has a strong blues base but brings in gospel, soul, rock and jazz elements and the material ranges from songs about being a single mother trying to make it in America in Food on the Table to the humorous No Taxi Driver about receiving to many wrong number calls from people who are looking for a taxi.