Nashville band Miss Tess and the Talkbacks are turning heads in the music world and will perform at the Dolores River Brewery on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Miss Tess explores the crossroads of American roots music. Her new release “Baby, We All Know”, features finely crafted and well-sung original songs.
“I consider this my best yet collection of original music,” she says. “In writing these tunes I stepped out of myself and into many different characters — based on real life and my imagination — and pulled sounds and stories from my musical fantasy land.”
Besides feeding off the music vibe of Nashville, Tess gets inspiration “from the streets of New Orleans, in the back hollars of Tennessee, on trains heading to Mexico, and under the sheets.”
The singer song-writer deftly plays a Weymann arch top guitar, and is accompanied by her band The Talkbacks, featuring guitar ace Thomas Bryan Eaton.
In addition to her current album she has two others released by Signature Sound Recordings: “Sweet Talk” (2012), and “The Love I Have For You” (2013).
“Baby, We All Know” climbed the Americana Chart to No. 19 in August, and has received rave reviews.
Her self described “rowdy and eclectic” shows are infused with classic country, Southern rhythm and blues, New Orleans jazz and swing, and sounds of swamp rock.
Yet Tess’s brand of music is hard to exactly categorize.
“Many times after the show somebody will come up to complement the band and ask me what kind of music we just played,” she says.
The Boston Globe agrees: “Miss Tess will never fit easily into just one box, and that’s why her fans look forward to the rootsy singer’s act.”
Pop Matters says the band “traverses the borderlines between early Tom Waits-esque lounge ballads, old timey county, a dollop of folk rock and a sprinkle of catchy jazz. Miss Tess’s voice is alternately seductive and sexy, and is a pure joy to listen to.”
The Dolores show Saturday begins at 8:30 p.m., and has a $10 cover charge.