Deborah Holland

This is a collection of Depression-era songs from a variety of sources like Woody Guthrie ("Do Re Mi"), Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart ("Ten Cents a Dance") and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg ("Brother Can you Spare a Dime"). Whether these songs originated as blues, folk, jazz or country songs, singer Deborah Holland delivers them in her expressive and powerful delivery with as much conviction and empathy as humanly possible for someone nearly 70 years removed from these selections' inceptions. These songs are accompanied deliberately in a sparse manner to enable the lyric and singer to carry the song as, presumably, was the case in the 1930's. Holland is simply joined by bassist Bob Mair and percussionist Billy Hulting who utilize a variety of playing techniques to most effectively convey the mood of each individual song. "We Sure Got Hard Times Now" assumes a quasi-rock & roll identity merely with Holland singing, Mair's slide bass and Hulting's makeshift drum kit. ~ Dave Sleger, All Music Guide