Highlights from reviews!
(CLICK HERE to see full reviews)
12/17/2004 - Read Mare's Article in the Waterford Post!
" Mare is a blues voice who is sure to make an impact on the industry" BestFemaleMusicians.com
"You could shelf this album nicely next to your best Muddy Waters and sandwich them right alongside Robert Johnson and T-Bone Walker all of which she reinterprets here" Smother.net
"Mare Edstrom should have titled her CD The Blues are Inside her instead of Inside the Blues" Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
"Edstrom has a wide, vocal range and a fervor to sing the blues" Kweevak's Tracks
"Success shouldn't be a problem for Edstrom, who can belt out the classics with the best of them." NY Rock Street Beat
"Mare rises to the challenge, delivering an above-average performance that is both faithful to the blues and gives real passion that the blues deserves." EarCandy Magazine
"Mare Edstrom is a welcome addition to the contemporary blues scene. On Inside The Blues (Spiritone Records), she pays tribute to many well loved blues artists and their songs, adding a unique dimension with her rich, expressive voice."
One Way Magazine
"I'm impressed. Mare Edstrom
is not only a very good vocalist but also
an imaginative artist. Arrangements on her
new CD are just great. Songs like "Stop
Breaking Down" or "Got Mud In
My Soul" blew me away."
Przemek Draheim, Poland,
Blues & Gospel Radio Host
"This work presents an exciting
new take on the blues while maintaining
a vintage brand of roadhouse authenticity."
Blogging
the Blues
"[Mare] has
a powerful and broad-ranged voice that’s
not your typical blues growl, but actually
works well on this eclectic collection of
songs...Producer Kenn Fox adds some superb
guitar and bass throughout the album, is
responsible for all the arrangements and
wrote the two original tunes...The sheer
beauty and intensity of Edstrom’s vocal
coupled with the imaginative arrangements
makes this special."
- Mick
Skidmore, Play Blues Guitar
"...It’s
clear that [Mare] comes to the blues through
a different door than most: Instead of the
standard gut-deep growl or jazzy rasp, Edstrom
uses a straight-up delivery with the occasional
downright pretty flourish....At first blush,
she seems more comfortable with modern numbers
such as Chris Smither’s 'I Feel the Same,'
but it becomes clear that Edstrom is perfectly
at home with the hoariest of chestnuts,
too...Edstrom can play it straight, also,
as she does on Memphis Minnie’s 'North Memphis
Blues' with pleasing results...[the album] has
a way of subtly surprising you. For instance,
three of the four final tracks are straight
blues filled with late-night rowdiness.
Then, Edstrom wraps up with an unconventional
take on Blind Willie Johnson’s 'In My Time
of Dyin' that freshens the song’s message
and is, in its own way, equally potent."
--Genevieve
Williams, Blues Review magazine
"...Although a pianist, Mare
is above all a singer, such as those who
first pioneered the vocal traditions of
jazz and R&B, striking like lightning
into the original purity of the blues, serious
and intense. Ranging over several octaves,
capable of pushing her voice to the edge
of breaking, sometimes rough, sometimes
sweet, Mare Edstrom seems carried by the
sulfurous spirit of a vocal journey that
she sometimes takes to the extreme, transporting
to new levels the songs placed on this very
beautiful album...The frail young woman
doesn't hesitate to transfigure certain
titles into hip hop-influenced rock, or
to spice others with well-mixed flavors,
or to return to the roots of an authentic
road band. A very exciting disc and the
image of a new modern blues sensation. To
be classified among the great Ladies of
R&B and of the Blues, those of the past
and those of the future."
--Francis
Rateau, Crossroads (French rock magazine)
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Original Release: 2004 
