Artist:     Lindsay Beaver

Album:     Tough As Love

Label:     Alligator

Release Date:     10.12.2018

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There’s a litany of the unusual here. When Alligator Records signs an artist, the name is often familiar, but Lindsay Beaver is a new name for most of us, yet Beaver has been performing professionally for 15 years. Second, Beaver is unique as a singer/drummer (one who stands, not sits while playing, too). Third, Beaver, now based in Austin, originally hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia (not your haven for blues musicians). Fourth, Beaver rolls off these names as her major influences – Billie Holiday, Queens of the Stone Age, Nick Curran, The Ramones, Little Richard, Amy Winehouse and Sam Cooke. Yes, we could go on but you’re starting to already realize that Lindsay Beaver stands apart. Label President Bruce Iglauer sums it up this way, “She’s a great young talent. Her songs evoke the spirt of the 1950s and ‘60s R&B and blues, but her singing and playing infuse them with a raw, rocking punk energy. Her music is full of unvarnished emotion and power.”

This is a self-produced debut with Beaver writing seven f the twelve tunes; the originals with similar grooves and vibes as the covers from Little Willie John, Angela Strehli and Art Neville, for example. Her core band is a trio with Brad Stivers on guitar and Josh Williams on bass. Label mates Marcia Ball and Dennis Gruenling guest as well as guitarist Laura Chavez, guitarist Eve Monsee, saxophonist Sax Gordon and pianist Matt Farrell. They are all folks that Beaver wanted to record with for a long time. Now calling Austin her home, primarily from Jimmie Vaughan’s inspiration and encouragement, Beaver has already impressed many there and recruited two of the city’s strongest for her new trio.

The opening track has Beaver’s drums followed by Gruenling’s blaring blues harp, as they launch into her own gutsy “You’re Evil.” “Too Cold to Cry” has a Fats Domino-like groove, giving Stivers a chance to rip on his axe before giving way to Ball’s piano solo while Beaver’s emotive vocals soar. “What a Fool You’ve Been” carries a ‘50s R&B style with Gordon joining on sax. She brings the frenzy down to a smoldering boil covering Little Willie John’s “You Hurt Me” as her wailing vocals attest to her ability to emotively deliver a soulful ballad. Another fine example is the slow blues of Strehli’s “Lost Cause.” Guitarist Chavez always brings a special sound and you’ll hear her on the second solo on the closer “Mean to Me.” The fiery album brings vintage rock n’ roll, rockabilly, punk blues, and straight ahead blues as strains of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Wanda Jackson, and blues greats echo through. Beaver’s vocals hold nothing back. She can belt them.

Beaver is a classically and jazz trained musician who just fell in love with emotion of the blues, mostly from Billie Holiday and later from Canadian blues band The Garrett Mason Trio. She sang on her jazz gigs and drummed on her blues gigs until realizing she wanted to do both as a bandleader. She says, “I like music with drive and passion. I write what I know and I sing what I know. At my shows, I want people to have fun and to be moved. I want everyone to be inspired to dance and I want at least some people to be moved to tears. And I definitely want every person to go home saying, ‘I’m never going to forget this’.” This is an exciting debut. Look for Beaver to be touring. All indications are that she will raise the roof and leave you exhausted from her energetic performance.

—Jim Hynes