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"Baptized By The Mud" marks Kat Danser's 4th release over a span of thirteen years and I have had the good fortune of receiving and listening to three of them. Her new releases have always been at the top of my list for most eagerly awaited and I feel like a kid on on Christmas Day when I go through my mail and find another treasure of hers greeting me. Kat Danser has been dubbed the ‘Queen of the Swamp Blues’, a more than fitting title for someone whom not only sings the Blues, as well as anyone can, but also really knows the Blues and it's history and tradition, through "years of study, mentorship, and songwriting with legendary blues icons in Mississippi - birthplace of the blues - and her graduate studies at the University of Alberta, where Danser focused her Masters thesis on the representation of blues music over the past century." "Baptized By The Mud" contains 12 amazing tracks consisting of Kat Danser's fresh new material as well as Gospel Blues Songs, both well and lesser known ones. With "Baptized By The Mud", Kat Danser "invites you to lay your burdens down" as she offer up a great set of ChurchBlues songs. Joining Kat Danser (Vocals/Resolectric/Slide Guitar) on "Baptized By The Mud" were Darryl Havers (Keyboards), Geoffrey Hichs (Drums/Percussion), Jeremy Holmes (Electric/Standup Bass), and Dawn Pemberton & Marcus Mosely (Background Vocals). In addition, Steve Dawson joined this production not only as a musician on numerous instruments, most notably Acoustic, Electric, and Slide Guitars, as well as Dobro, Banjo, Pedal Steel, and Weissenborn, but also in the capacity as Producer, Recorder, and Mixer. Steve Dawson also worked on Kat Danser's second album, "Somethin' Familar". Darryl Havers, once again, joins Kat Danser as he did on her previous album, "Passin'-A-Time". When it comes to writing reviews, albums such as these are the ones I hate the most, mainly because I much prefer to be just laying back and listening to the magic, which for me albums like this one, certainly are. I also dislike it when I have to come up with my 3 favorites; an almost impossible task when dealing with such deep albums, in fact, sometimes I refuse to pick 3 favorites for fear one might think the other songs are just a little less good, which could not be farther from the truth for "Baptized By The Mud". Never the less, that being said, I picked Track 1 "Sun Goes Down", Track 4 "Baptized By The Mud", and Track 12 "You Gotta Move". Opening Tracks quite often make it onto my favorites list and "Sun Goes Down" is certainly one that deserves to be there. This is a great and lively Gospel Blues opener and certainly one that gets not only your toes quickly tapping, but also one that heightens your anticipation for more great stuff to come. I particularily loved Jeremy Holmes work on Keys around the halfway mark. "Baptized By The Mud", not only gets my nod as one of my favorites on this album, but also one of my top favorites for songs I have listened to, so far, this year. As with "Sun Goes Down", "Baptized By The Mud" is also a Kat Danser original. In addition to Kat's great Vocals, this beauty also has some really nice instrumentation throughout, of particular note, Steve Dawson's work on the Pedal Steel. "You Gotta Move" is the closer for "Baptized By The Mud" and has no problem accomplishing what all good closers should do, and that is, get you really thinking about hitting the replay button and starting the whole album over again. According to WikiPedia, "You Gotta Move" "is a traditional negro spiritual song about death coming soon, and slaves fleeing the Southern United States and/or being freed by death/reaching the promised land/paradise. As ever in such slave songs, double-entendres are difficult to figure out. A spirited version of it was recorded by the Blind Boys of Alabama on September 28, 1953. It was also recorded in 1965, twelve years later, by Mississippi Fred McDowell, to whom it was attributed by British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, who more famously recorded it as "You Gotta Move" and featured it on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers ". Out of the few ways Kat Danser could of taken this song, I am glad she leaned more toward a slow Rolling Stones style feel. A really nice song indeed. "Baptized By The Mud", is quite simply put, a masterful musical journey, that should have no problem with leaving you with a sense of awe. This is the kind of music that is far far too rare, which I guess makes it all the more beautiful to listen to. So many things individually, on their own, would of made for a pretty exceptional album, but put them all together, with Kat Danser's sweet Vocals, Lyrical Genius, and Instrumental Prowess, Steve Dawson's mastery with Guitars, especially Slide, Dawn Pemberton's & Marcus Mosely's heavenly Backing Vocals, and the perfect melding of the other great performers, and you can't help but end up with something pretty special. For lovers of Gospel Blues, done up real special, "Baptized By The Mud", is just what the doctor ordered. 5***** for "Baptized By The Mud", with the wish I had a higher rating system, as it is certainly deserved, when dealing with such a musical treasure as Kat Danser. Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network) Listen To Samples And Additional Info Here... http://katdanser.com/
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"A hauntingly beautiful and eloquently lyrical Album", was how I described Kat Danser's previous masterful release, "Passin'-A-Time", and I must say, that after giving her newest release "Baptized By The Mud" a listen, those words more than express my thoughts on this album, as well. With "Passin'-A-Time", I had no problem at all choosing it as Best Roots & Blues Album in my 2010 Year End Review and although early in the year, I am already certain, "Baptized By The Mud" is going to be the one to beat come my 2014 Year End Review.