Category: album reviews

Unwed Mothers (Edmonton, AB)- Blues, Indie, Rock

The next stop was the Cadillac Lounge to take in a Canadian band, Unwed Mothers, whose name was neat and resonated with me as an unwed mother myself. The lead singer, Julie Adams,a petite woman with long hair told the crowd that she was here in the big city for the very first time. If she was finding the hustle and bustle of Toronto overwhelming it didn’t show in her performance at all. When she opened her mouth to sing, I was impressed by the power behind a voice belonging to such a small person- I always seem to find it hard to anticipate a large voice from a small person even though I have been proven wrong time and time again. Her voice was bluesy and, listening to her, Bonnie Raitt came to mind. The volume on the mic could have been louder, as I found it difficult to decipher the lyrics most of the time. The band, especially the frontwoman, were already quite the crowd favorite for newcomers to the city. I don’t know many people who can afford to fly across the country for a music festival, so either their online presence and marketing are incredible, or the locals quickly welcomed the band with open arms. Julie is quite pretty, which never hurts in the entertainment industry, and when she commented on being parched about five guys jumped to the rescue. Three of them gave up, but she made a point of having a sip from both of the beers in front of her, which I thought was really cute. The petite ‘Unwed Mother’ played rhythm guitar for the first few numbers, but I noticed a keyboard at her side and I was looking forward to seeing when she switched it up. Considering my feeble attempts thus far, it always intrigues me a little to watch someone play an instrument while doing all the singing. When she did switch to the keys, she did so in a rhythm capacity, using her free hand to cup the microphone for a rougher vocal effect. It was a nice change at first, though it made hearing the lyrics virtually impossible, but it hid her voice too much. It made for a modern Janis Joplin sound, in which I could see the attraction and appeal, but it could have been used more sparingly. The fourth number was another original, and very impressive, especially as it was a great opportunity for the songstress to showcase her vocal range and talent. The volume on the mic became far less of an issue when the feedback storm began. For some reason, it suddenly got incredibly loud, and whoever was in charge of sound couldn’t seem to get rid of it. The infamous nails-on-a-chalkboard effect of badly placed feedback became fainter, but never really disappeared. It really was a pity because the song that got cut off when the storm began was really pretty. Some of the earlier numbers were hard enough to scare off the more delicate members of the audience, but I personally enjoyed their overall sound and Julie’s beautiful voice, especially when she sang a few inches away from the mic.

Melissa Peters

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