When Jimi Hendrix asked ARE YOU EXPERIENCED (Polydor, 1967), a toddler-young Annie Wenz must have looked up from her toy piano and shouted back Hell Yeah! In her latest CD titled RIDE THE SKY, Annie rides right out at you with HALLELUJAH ROSE, projecting all the bravado of Jill Sobule’s groundbreaking 1995 hit I KISSED A GIRL. With a voice like grade-A maple syrup, her smooth lyrics and driving images cover you in a golden acoustic coat like the glistening sheen that runs over fresh cooked pancakes. Unapologetic, never flinching, Annie sings out eye’s wide open, as in her sobering second track LIFE IN HARLAN, where if the rattler bites god will decide if it’s time for sacrifice. This CD is a ride across life’s landscapes, from it’s hardships, to it’s happiness and even it’s hangovers. After all, we’ve all been to the TICK TOCK LOUNGE where you know you don’t know what it is sometimes you been kissing. And even love’s paradoxical moments aren’t immune from her sharp prose as she laments in ROSES AND CANDY HEART PARADES that her brand new satin sheets are filthy clean. So whether she’s playing on stage with plastic fish floating inside the clear acrylic heels of her leopard skin boots, or she’s memorizing you with the haunting sounds of her double barreled wooden flute as in my favorite track LONE COYOTE, you’ll find that Annie Wenz’s RIDE THE SKY is a ride you’ll want to take over and over again. Ride with Annie this Saturday, May 14th at 7:30 pm when she and Marie Nofsinger(www.myspace.com/marienofsinger) rock the Labyrinth Cafe (see calendar below for more info).
Dr. Bob