Singer and songwriter Donna Hughes makes her national debut with this very enjoyable album, Gaining Wisdom, produced by guitar legend Tony Rice and featuring a stellar cast of sidemen who include mandolinist Sam Bush, dobro player Rob Ickes and fiddler Ron Stewart, among others. The lineup might lead you to expect a relatively straightforward bluegrass album, but what you get is something quite a bit more complex -- a really quite modern country album played on acoustic instruments, some of the songs (notably a fun arrangement of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and the modern but old-fashioned "Where Are You Darlin'?") heading off into traditional bluegrass territory but many others exploring more contemporary country styles. Hughes' voice is lovely, she's a very talented songwriter, and the arrangements are wonderful -- the only thing one might complain about on this album is a certain emotional flatness in her delivery. When she sings "What I'm Looking For," it doesn't actually sound like she's been looking all that hard, and the hard-luck portrait "Bottom of a Glass" is sung in a strangely jaunty manner. Her affect seems just a bit off through most of the record, but it's still a very enjoyable listen and a promising debut.
Gaining Wisdom
Donna Hughes
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Gaining Wisdom Review
by Rick Anderson
Track Listing
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 | Donna Hughes | 04:00 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
2 | Donna Hughes | 03:00 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
3 | Donna Hughes | 02:49 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
4 | Donna Hughes | 03:38 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
5 | Donna Hughes | 03:16 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
6 | Donna Hughes | 03:00 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
7 | Donna Hughes | 02:33 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
8 | Donna Hughes | 02:11 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
9 | Donna Hughes | 02:59 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
10 | Donna Hughes | 03:13 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
11 | Donna Hughes | 02:28 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
12 | Donna Hughes | 03:43 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
13 | Donna Hughes | 03:08 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
14 | Donna Hughes | 03:31 | SpotifyAmazon |