The Whiskey Romance leads you through a twisted world of vengeful cowgirls, forlorn lovers living above mariachi bars, mysterious strangers sitting alone at the end of the bar, and a variety of characters we encounter or house within. Formed by singer/songwriter Erin Jordan, The Whiskey Romance’s songs combine American roots music with Cabaret and traditional Eastern European styles of music (most notably Gypsy and Klezmer). Oboe, violin, and accordion are some of the instruments that give the songs on Gateway to Temptation their exotic and tantalizing sounds. .......................................................................... Review from Sepiachord (November 2008): "Gateway to Temptation" is the first release by Seattle quartet (Erin Jordan and) The Whiskey Romance. It's a wonderful and delectable debut. The music here has a bad part-of-town/other-side-of-the-tracks (and on "Porque Tu No Me Amas", south-of-the-border) feel that evokes what the Doors called "the darkness on the edge of town"... it reminds you that there are disturbed places near where you live, places that are haunted by the living. One of these places is a bar where Erin Jordan and her crew are the featured entertainment. It's a dive, a place where the drinks come easy and the broken hearts easier. A place where any lost soul might wander in, a place where the band sounds like it stumbled over from the cabaret down the street after they got kicked out for playing Patsy Cline songs. It's easy to peg the basis for the pieces on "Gateway..." as roots music. But who's roots? None of us are old enough to remember a time when cabaret was popular or when country wasn't. But the key here is not the roots, it's the result. EJ & the WR tap into something timeless: we'll always be looking for love and, when that's lost, for solace. When you're broken you can drink yourself into oblivion or dance the night away with a tempting stranger. "Gateway to Temptation" is the soundtrack for both. It follows that the sound on this disc is sexy, sultry and (frequently) sleazy. We say the damnedest things when our hearts are on our sleeves (or when we're three sheets to the wind). Luckily Erin's voice is perfect for this, by turns heartbreaking and coquettish, needy and vengeful. The band's secret weapon is Jeremy Butkovich's oboe. Not only is it an amazing counterpoint to Jordan's vocals it provides a chain that runs through the songs that makes them otherworldly. This band isn't from around these parts, and the oboe makes you think that they may not be from this side of the dream veil. This is a remarkable collection that I highly recommend. Honestly I don't know how you can get through the one-two punch of the opening song ("Black Widow" and "Jane") and not be seduced. Here's to seduction! Cheers. .......................................................................... Self described as "hobo cabaret", The Whiskey Romance creates and atmosphere somewhere between a gin joint and a jug-band hoedown with their crowd participation mandatory shows and lively performances. Vocalist Erin Jordan channels Pink Martini's China Forbes and commands her soaring bravado over the band's collection of upright bass and cantina-style piano, convincingly enough that you might look around to double-check that you're still in Seattle. -The Seattle Weekly November 2008 ........................................................................... "These songs come out like old world folk tunes, like the soundtrack to a period piece Italian art film." -Indie-music.com February 2009 Erin Jordan and the Whiskey Romance: http://www.myspace.com/thewhiskeyromance