Kirsten Nash Album The View From Here Reviewed by Riveting Riffs Magazine

The View From Here - Kirsten Nash

kirsten nash the view from here photo one Canadian singer – songwriter Kirsten Nash’s new album The View From Here opens with a killer tune, “100 Mile House,” recorded at The Factory Studios in Vancouver, Canada. The song which features the clear, smooth vocals of Nash, backed by excellent guitar playing courtesy of John Ellis and Jay Buettner, takes its name from a small town in Northern British Columbia, the province that Kirsten Nash calls home.

Kirsten Nash who has toured with Long John Baldry, Alfie Zappacosta and worked in the studio and / or shared the stage with Tom Jones, Bill Medley, Jeff Healey, Stephen Stills, John Waite, Boz Scaggs, Rita MacNeil, Cher and Amos Garrett, weaves a beautiful, yet tragic ballad “Abigail,” a young woman who spends her life trying to fit in. Abigail lives her life alone, often in pain, but disguises the pain, “when she says there’s nothing wrong, that’s the time she hurts the most.” The poignant line that jumps out from the lyrics is “She’s so used to being Abigail alone.” Ms. Nash accompanies herself beautifully on acoustic guitar and is joined on guitar by John Ellis and Jay Buettner.

“You Were Mine,” opens with Kirsten Nash playing saxophone and this is another exquisite ballad that talks about the mistake of taking love for granted. There is a stark metaphor for love that has died, “the coffee gets cold and so did my heart.” It is a song about the choices that we make in life and how sometimes we look back and wonder if we would make the same choices again. The song is more reflective than it is one about heartbreak or sorrow, although there is a lament in Ms. Nash’s saxophone. If anything perhaps the tone of this song is remembering the cherished moments and realizing that if we had those moments back we might not be so reckless or hasty in the words spoken to one another. Kirsten Nash’s lyrics sum up this song perfectly, “We all take love for granted, when it whispers in your ear, sometimes you don’t hear.”

The next song that rolls out “Katie,” features strong electric guitar by John Ellis, passionate piano by Austin Park, excellent drumming by Pat Steward (the Odds) and the subject of the song is the skinny dipping Katie who the listener concludes likes to play the men who enter her life and is short on commitment. Kirsten Nash’s saxophone playing is fabulous and her vocals playful as she describes Katie the town character. The song is Blues flavored and opens with an acoustic guitar Blues shuffle.

The soulful “It Was Supposed To Work Out,” reminisces about love that ended. It starts with lying awake at four in the morning and “at times like this it is hard not to think about you.” It is about wishing we could tell that person with whom we were once with that we still love them and we always will. Ms. Nash’s saxophone is soulful and compliments her vocals well. Pat Steward’s drumming is steady and emotive.

The very gifted John Ellis beautifully accompanies Kirsten Nash with his pedal steel guitar on the song “In Our Hearts,” a slow moving, love letter that is tenderly phrased by the alto voiced Ms. Nash. The words are simple, about sharing special moments, opening our hearts up to someone and trusting them enough to let them see the part of us that few people see or get a chance to touch.

The smokey Jazz tune “I’m Sorry,” has a late night lounge feel to it and features Ms. Nash on saxophone with some elegant piano playing by Austin Park, while Pat Steward provides the backbeat. The song demonstrates Ms. Nash’s versatility as an artist as she successfully crosses genres, something she has accomplished at several points during her illustrious career.

Putting a Country Music twist on her album The View From Here, Kirsten Nash delivers the very strong and up-tempo “Come With Me,” that straddles the line between traditional Country and New Country. The guitars and piano accompaniments are excellent and Ms. Nash adds some grit to her vocals. By the time we reached this point on the album Austin Park had won this writer over as a fan. The only thing that might have made this song even better would have been some background vocals, especially on the refrain “Come with me.”

The Country flavor continues with “It’ll Be Alright,” and John Ellis on guitar. We have run out of superlatives to describe his playing and if there is a place on this album when the limelight might have been stolen from Ms. Nash’s vocals, this may be the one.

The album The View From Here ends on a high note with another strong original song from Kirsten Nash, the Jazzy “It’s Gone,” featuring strong drumming, good saxophone and excellent piano playing.

Kirsten Nash’s album The View From Here is easily the best album Riveting Riffs Magazine has reviewed in 2011.