Unfortunately, even the most talented musician needs more than sincerity and a lovely voice to make a truly engaging record. Katie Moore has everything a recording musician could want. She has a fantastic voice and tons of experience performing with artists in many musical genres, but Montebello, her second full-length album, fails to make a strong statement. The recording quality is suitably raw for a singer that nimbly traverses a bluesy fence between bluegrass, folk and country. The accompaniment carefully follows Moore’s lead, though could perhaps be less subtle at times as the arrangements overall sounded a bit dreary. The effect is something you might expect during a post-breakup montage in any romantic drama from the last decade. It might be a redeeming factor for the film, but audiences likely would not rush home to find out who performed it.

Published in Volume 65, Number 19 of The Uniter (February 10, 2011)