Search - Deb Callahan :: Tell It Like It Is

Philadelphia's blues and soul drenched vocalist and songwriter releases her 4th CD entitled Tell It Like It Is in October of 2010. The new CD is another successful collaboration between Philadelphia producer/songwriter, Chris Arms and Deb and was recorded at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA by Grammy Award winning producer/engineer Phil Nicolo. The CD features 9 new original songs and a cover of Funkier Than a Mosquita s Tweeter originally performed by Tina Turner and written by her sister Aillene Bullock as well as Cold Irons Bound a Bob Dylan tune. The road tested band including guitarist Allen James, bass player Garry Lee and drummer, Tom Walling with special guests Jason Crosby on keyboards/violin, (Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph) and Matt Cappy on trumpet, (Jill Scott, MJ Blige, Jay-Z, John Legend), bring a live, spontaneous feel to the tracks. The songs are blues based with forays into gospel, soul, rock and jazz and thematically explore a range of topics and issues including feeling love and joy, finding spirituality, giving voice to the experience of homeless children without family support, how hard it can be to make changes and are both serious and playful. Since 2002, Callahan has released three CDs, If The Blues Had Wings, The Blue Pearl and Grace & Grit. She performs many of these original songs live as well as putting her own twist on some standards. Her 2008 CD, Grace & Grit also produced in collaboration with Chris Arms, has been given significant airplay on stations around the country (including regular rotation on XM/Sirius Radio s bluesville station) and debuted on the Living Blues Radio Charts for November 2008 at #16. She has been touring up and down the east coast and the mid-west performing at many festivals, concerts and clubs on the strength of this release. Grace & Grit features original music with 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. . 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 to the playful Obstacle of Love" where she creatively sings about the challenges of being in a relationship with someone when they're a complete opposite. Blues Revue Magazine says of Grace & Grit Deb Callahan possesses an instinctive feel for the blues. As a songwriter, Callahan's gift lies in bringing fresh perspectives to classic lyrical themes. Vocally she understand her strengths a pure, resonant tone and expressive phrasing and employs them to great effect. She also stands as a first rate song interpreter. Jazzreview.com says Her powerful, soul-tinged bluesy vocals showcase both an abundance of grace along with more than just a smidgen of grit. On the grace/grit scale, she weighs in heavily alongside the finest female blues belters ever. In fact, the potent force of her vocals should secure her presence on the national blues scene for years.