Donna Beasley
Good Samaritan
© 2007 Bless Her Heart Music (837101323062)
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This East Tennessee native combines elements of classic country, rock, and pop and runs them through a filter of spooky Appalachian soul on her Americana/Alt-Country debut.
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Performing at the Americana Music Association 2008 Conference! Where: The Station Inn - When: September 17, 9pm
~~~PRESS FOR GOOD SAMARITAN~~~
3 1/2 out of 5 stars: ...Impressive debut album...Beasley is an impressive songwriter...Beasley's voice has a beautiful clarity and impressive range, but also a shade of fragility and understated emotion that maintains an element of tension...a fascinating album.
Michael Hingston - Country Music People, UK (April 1, 2008)
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5 out of 5 stars: A superb debut release from a new country singer songwriter from East Tennessee, magically mixing both traditional and contemporary and coming up with that often missing ingredient, originality. When I first heard this superb album my heart missed a beat, sometimes you just know that you are listening to something special, something different, something with just that extra little ingredient that will make an album stand out from the rest. With GOOD SAMARITAN Donna Beasley has achieved all of the above and more.
...I can personally recommend that you add GOOD SAMARITAN to your collection as soon as possible.
James Soars - Maverick Magazine, UK (Jan 17, 2008)
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...It's a strangely woozy album, redolent with the heritage of Donna's native Tennessee and referencing out to a much broader spectrum of country, pop, bluegrass, even jazz in the vocal delivery. Steady handed and confident, it's compellingly seductive. Give it a whirl - it's hard not to fall for.
- Lonesome Music (Jan 6, 2008)
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..Very personal and passionate...a CD that deserves to be heard...
Remo Ricaldone - Susa Onda Radio, American Roots Radio, Italy (Nov. 30, 2007)
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"Good Samaritan" is a strong and very positive debut...
Massimo Ferro - Highway 61, American Roots Radio, Italy (Nov. 24, 2007)
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...All 13 songs are keepers, no filler. She has chosen well which numbers to make the most of her vocal style. Her voice has such a presence that all good country singers would trade a leg (or some other limb) for smoky, nasal, sexy, jazzy...
...Good songs brought by a singer with a beautiful and pure voice.
Freddie Celis - Rootstime, Belgium (Sep 14, 2007)
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...A well crafted set of songs…that show what ingenuity, creativity and possibility exists in a place where all too often it is the lowest common denominator that determines success...
...the combination of the pedal steel guitar and accordion is so well executed on the incredible "Cotton" that one is left to wonder why it isn't a staple feature on every country record, it is that amazing and authentic. Good as that is, it still is only augmentation for Beasley's voice on an incredibly original song...
...when she confounds contemporary country, she glows...
...an extremely captivating collection of material that deserves to be heard on a wide scale.
Jay Lengnick - The American Country Radio Network (Sep 3, 2007)
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If my entire vocabulary consisted of only one word, I could still review Donna Beasley's CD, "Good Samaritan", provided that one word was "WOW". A lot of singer/songwriters seem to release albums with 3 or 5 really good songs, some of which may have a legitimate shot at being cut by mainstream artists, and then throw in 6 or 8 of what are usually referred to as "album cuts" or "B-sides". That isn't enough to get you noticed by the powers-that-be in Nashville, or any of the other music centers, any more. Happily, Ms. Beasley doesn't have that problem. This is a strong, strong collection of songs...
...Clearly, Ms. Beasley isn't limited to any one style and, in all honesty, she does them all very, very well...
...Overall, I'd say this is a very, very good record...
Rick Marchetti - The Muse's Muse (July 15, 2007)
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USA Today, This Week's Playlist
Love My Way, Donna Beasley: Tennessee singer/songwriter gives this Psychedelic Furs tune an eerie, woozy sway.
Brian Mansfield - USA Today (Jun 19, 2007)
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...Donna has an amazing vocal range...
...Donna is a very good -and I mean very good- songwriter, melody as well as lyrics...
..."No One Here By That Name" is the country song about lost love, with great acoustic guitar, fiddle and plaintive vocal, that should win many Awards...
...Various daring combinations, that work very well for Donna Beasley. Her beautiful, strong voice, with the flawless playing and production (Tom Spaulding) as a bonus, holds it together, while Donna skips through styles!
Johanna J. Bodde - Insurgent Country (Jun 13, 2007)
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...Donna Beasley has taken her raspy vocals, calming melodies, inspiring lyrics, and simple, complex instrumentation to new heights in country music. Her exposure to various genres of music helps create an album with diversity for all types of country music fans, young and old...
Courtney Vanderbeck - www.musicnewsnashville.com (Jun 13, 2007)
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It's the subtly with which she hones her songs that is most, or perhaps least, apparent. Instead, the sometimes-sparse arrangements and smoky vocals share centerstage, carefully evocative of her vintage inspirations.
Do yourself a favor and go pickup a copy of this disc from Beasley, an East Nashville transplant, flip it into your player and enjoy the moment.
Todd Smith - Sharkbitten.com (May 30, 2007)
~~~BIO~~~
East Tennessee. More than just a convenient description, in musical terms it means lonesome, spooky, mountain melodies and lyrics. Donna Beasley continues the tradition of real, honest rural music adding elements of classic country, rock, and pop. With a voice that goes from a whisper to a wail, she injects her music with the soul of the mountains, the joy of their beauty, and the pain of their isolation. Hear what results on Donna's eclectic 2007 Americana/Alt-Country debut, "Good Samaritan."
Donna's parents hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Shortly after marrying, they moved to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where Donna was born and raised, Sevierville, Tennessee. From a young age Donna was exposed to a wide range of musical styles. Her mother came from a family of guitar pickers and fiddlers who favored Bluegrass and Country music. Her father's tastes ran purely Country while her older brothers introduced her to Rock & Roll and R & B.
In her teens, Donna gained notoriety singing in local churches and tent revivals. The biblical themes from her Fundamental Baptist background are evident in her songs.
Donna's songs have been featured on compilation CDs of East Tennessee songwriters, Donna was nominated for a 2006 WIVK HEMI Award for Favorite Future Female Artist, and "Good Samaritan" was a finalist for a 2007 Independent Music Award in the Americana Album category.
Donna is currently receiving airplay on several Americana broadcasts in the U.S. and abroad, Donna made USA Today's Weekly Playlist as well as XM Satellite Radio's Radar Report, received airplay on XM Radio Unsigned and on Steve Earle's Air America Radio.
Fans of Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Neko Case will want to experience Donna Beasley’s stellar debut CD, “Good Samaritan".
reviews
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Nice, different,
author: calvinI thought it was really nice. Different kind of music. I would buy it just to hear the voice singing. Very good. Not country, not bluegrass. It has my vote. I'd buy one.