Lend Jenny Your Ears

Conversations With Myself (Story Avenue Records)

Jenny Madison

By David Lilly

Head-scratching confusion came with this disc. While this music got a "sweet" write-up from the UK's Country Music Roundup, it sounds to me more like a blues album. As a consumer in a record store, the first thing you'd see with this CD is a cover photo of Jenny Madison, an attractive player, singer and writer. Regardless of what genre you find her bin in, what genre you'll hear might be up to you to decide.

The blues-rock of "Midnight" opens the disc with a catchy melody and provocative lines like, "I've got nothing to fear/But everything that I love." I suppose the gentle and pretty "Sugar Creek" is a teaspoon of country fried folk-blues, describing a place where the protagonist goes to "Take off my shoes baptize my feet/...In the warmth of the sun/ I'm gonna rid myself/of a troubled past/ I swear this time it's gonna last." On the heels of that, the blues rock resumes with the haunting and loin-stirring, "Grave Shaker." Referring to an angel, Madison sings, "Had a kind face/ and it carried me/ Far away from where I'd fallen/Where the weight of the world buried me." At the end of the disc and the day, allow the beautiful and reassuring "Nothing's Wrong," with lines like, "When I'm with you/ I'm in no hurry/...When my heart's where it belongs/Nothing's wrong," to tuck you in for a restful night. You have to hear it to appreciate it. When you do, you will.

The more acquainted you get with Madison's music, the better it sounds. Who knows? You might become close friends. Want to know more about her and see that cute smile? Visit her on the web at www.jennymadison.com, where this CD just happens to be available. Contact the lady at jennymadison@comcast.net