Kevin Bronson on August 11th, 2010

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Over the past decade, Frazey Ford rose to indie acclaim as part of Canadian trio the Be Good Tanyas, a group that typified the new roots folk movement of the early 2000s. Now solo, she’s redefining the sound of Americana with the near-perfect “Obadiah.” A marriage of sweet soul music in the vein of Al Green and Ann Peebles, but colored with the same stripped-down, back-country character of Lucinda Williams and the Jayhawks, each song is bursting with palpable emotion.  “You feel things for yourself and on behalf of others,” Ford says of the album’s deeply personal themes. “If people resonate with your sound, it resonates in them. We do this for each other. We help each other feel things that are difficult or joyous or whatever. That’s how we stay human.”

||| Download: “Blue Streak Mama”

||| Live: Frazey Ford (with Sara Lov) performs tonight at the Hotel Cafe, where Snow & Voices and Jamie Drake also are on the bill.

– By Rich Thomas