Search - Rosie Flores :: Dance Hall Dreams

Like Lucinda Williams's breakthrough 1998 release Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, this Rosie Flores full-length CD finds the talented singer-guitarist settling into a comfortable groove that owes as much to folk and country as it does to pop and rock. Flores's vulnerable voice has at times the fragile quality of Suzanne Vega, but that is where the comparison ends. This self-proclaimed "Rockabilly Filly" is anything but a doe-eyed folkie strumming a guitar from atop a barstool. Flores shifts comfortably between ballads and high-energy honky-tonk rave-ups, eschewing slick, modern-country production for a classic warm sound that makes her sweet voice glow. Her lyrics, though, are unquestionably what makes these tracks potential juke-joint favorites--from the sentimental slow-dance lilt of "Who's Gonna Fix It Now" to the shack-shaking shout-out of "It Came from Memphis." The lone cover is an irresistible version of Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love." Dance Hall Dreams keeps alive country's honky-tonk spirit and still manages to incorporate fresh elements, a welcome change from the featureless pablum that passes for country these days. --Adem Tepedelen