I’d be surprised if Suzie Vinnick hasn’t spent a fair bit of time listening to Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and the Cowboy Junkies, because her lovely, gentle song style on this CD hints at some real toughness underneath. She’s a good guitar player and has a strong backup band on 33 Stars including Kevin Breit on Electric Guitar, George Koller on Acoustic Bass, and Mark Mariash on Drums. No wonder there’s a hint in the album of the smooth finish of Quartette, with Cindy Church and Gwen Swick doing background vocals.

Although some of the tunes, like “I’m On the Edge”(R.Forbes), and my favourite, “I Need a Cowboy”
(S. Lumsden), have upbeat country-rock arrangements, for the most part, the tunes here, including two of Suzie’s own, are on the mellow side and deal with the hurting side of love: hanging onto lost love; morning after love anxiety; regret at the end of an affair; homesick love; longing after a great first nighter; remembering a dead love; horny for a cowboy; and, longing for a dead love. And behind much of the music is an elegiac sense of parental love lost.

Suzie Vinnick: I'd like to hear her next album. I’d like to hear her sing The Blues.