An evening in the company of some amazing singer/songwriter women last night, as I met up with Arlene Paculan and Kat Leonard to hear Jessica Speziale at the Horseshoe Tavern (and I met Jessica at Meghan Morrison’s CMW gig at Velvet Underground).
Speziale and band played a tight set of mostly original blues tunes, with Speziale on acoustic guitar. Sultry, smooth vocals – that can bring it for the driving tunes (like Brace Yourself) and caress on the ballads (my fave Don’t Look Down) – this lady has a set of pipes on her. And her cover of Tracy Chapman’s Give Me One Reason was awesome!
She’s backed up by a solid group of musicians (most of the same guys appear on her EP Dear Reverie, which I got a copy of last night), including Dave Sufrin (drums, Charlie Cooley on the EP), Luke Roberts (electric guitar), who I recognized from a Blue Venus gig at Cameron House a little while back, and Gabe Salem (bass), who in addition to being an amazing musician provided some nice back-up vocals. Photo courtesy of Arlene Paculan – thanks, Arlene!
Jessica Speziale is an artist to watch out for. Check out her website: http://www.jessicaspeziale.com/
life with more cowbell 
Leave a comment