专辑简介

"Witness" is the 2nd release I have had the good fortune of receiving from Melinda, of which her first release "Don't Be Sweet", I wrote, "Don't Be Sweet", proves beyond a doubt that Melinda is far to talented to be just a flash in the pan. I really enjoyed this EP, a lot, and I hope she soon gets out a full length album." That was in 2011 and the wait is finally over, and I for one, could not be any happier. Melinda's music and vocals have a certain raw intensity that I could best describe as a cross between Janis Joplin and Melissa Etheridge, something that she has no problem proving on "Witness", her debut full length album, which contains 8 power packed Tracks of which Melissa is credited with writing 6 of them, with fellow co-writer Kristian Habenicht, along with Kevin Bowe whom helped out on co-writing 1 of the Tracks. For the 2 covers, she chose some mighty fine ones with "Seeing Things" (Chris/Rich Robinson), and "No Expectations" (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards). "Witness" starts the ball rolling with "Trouble", a nice raw grungy blues tune that totally accentuates Melinda's Vocals and Kristian Habenicht's powerful Guitar slinging. Additional performers on this Track included Daniel S. Jayo (Bass), and John J. Szweinis (Drums). Additional performers on various other Tracks included, Peter Andersen (Drums), Kevin Bowe (Guitar/Percussion/Harmonica), Elisa Wright (Strings), Steve Price (Bass), Joey Waslousky (Drums), Jerome Kirkland (Organ), Ronen Evron (Drums), Claire "Lady B" Filey (Bass), Alex Howland (Organ), Dorian Heartsong (Bass), and David Cowan (Drums). You would think with the amount of different players, on this album, you would have a lot of different sounds, but that was not the case, as a wonderful consistency flowed throughout this entire project. For a couple of favorites, I did not choose any of the originals, not because they were not any good, because they were all great, but because the 2 covers were pretty well the top of my favorite songs for each group, especially "No Expectations" which is one of my all time favorite songs, period. Melinda and company, did a fantastic job on both of those covers, truly bringing the original essence of each of them to the forefront. Melinda's singing, as on all of this album, was heavenly, especially on the chorus line for "Seeing Things". On "No Expectations", we got the great added treat of Melinda playing Guitar with Kristian Habenicht. It was the only time she played an instrument on "Witness", and I must say she did a top notch job. "No Expectations" was a wonderful closer to a simply brilliantly done album. For a debut full length album, you can't really expect them to be to much better than "Witness". It basically had everything, with the amazing Vocals of Melinda, topped off with rock solid songwriting, and a mix of superb instrumentalists. With just her Vocals alone, Melinda has already carved out a unique and creative niche for herself and when you add everything else up, I must say there is no stopping this immense talent. ~Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)