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Just Blue Speak To Hear - Brevard Live Magazine

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Fechino at Room 56, Nashville, Tennessee

When an act calls themselves ‘Just Blue’ and releases a CD with blue packaging and a blue disc inside, one could be forgiven for assuming they were a blues band. The opening bars of track one, “Every Time", dispel that notion right away. The song is an indie rocker with a 60s garage feel that thumps along with a good time vibe. It’s quite a long way from the blues.

Of course the blues is a somewhat relative term and vocalist Melissa Barelmann has obviously had her share of them. “Don’t Go There" and “Answering Machine” are two examples of the lyin’ and cheatin’ times she’s endured. Fortunately Barelmann’s voice has enough personality to keep the overall effect from becoming maudlin. Somewhere between Stevie Nicks and Belinda Carlisle by way of Natalie Merchant, whether a song is rolling slow or rocking on, her delivery is always clear and concise and she’s got enough character to sweeten up the sad stuff. The song “Speak To Hear" shows off all aspects of Barelrnann’s vocal abilities, Chad Fagg’s technical guitar and bass playing, the duo‘s songwriting, and band performance at their best.

The sparkling guitars and tight edgy production keep every song front and center and the under-four-minute format keeps the whole release poppy and radio friendly. There’s a New School Nashville country sheen to the whole disc and certain tunes like “Lucky That Way” and “Quitting Time" go the full CMT route - this is a good thing. The lines between country and main-stream music have been blurring for years and only get more vague all the time. The 2/4 bass and drum beats keep the sound solid enough to go either direction on your radio dial.

Just Blue has a few live dates lined up in the local area so whenyou head out to see them you can expect a solid night of well crafted tunes and strong, precise, performance. courtesy of Brevard Live Magazine

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