Duffy Bishop

Find Your Way Home
Lil’ Spinner Records

Duffy Bishop may open her long-awaited new release, Find Your Way Home, by telling you that she does not want to know about it, but you’re certainly going to want to know and hear about it, this sensational disc. It has been way too long since the last release, but what she delivers here is more than worth that wait. And if she tells us that there is nothing left to prove on “Get Up And Move,” don’t you believe that for a second. This lady and her band aren’t buried yet and they’ve got plenty to tell us here and you’re going to listen very closely. Well, it is Duffy Bishop after all, so you’re already aware that you’re about to have a good time. That much is a given. And Find Your Way Home is the band at their very best.

Duffy Bishop herself is a like a force of nature. She can come across at one moment like a gentle spring breeze, only to turn around the next like a category five hurricane. Her voice has been enrapturing us for many years. It’s something you just cannot get enough of. Her band mates Dean Mueller on bass, Kelly Dunn on drums and songwriting/guitar playing husband Chris Carlson are all at the top of their game blending with Duffy’s passion and energy. This is quite evident on tracks like “I Don’t Wanna Know About It” and “Fly,” as well as throughout the entire disc.

Duffy brings along a lot of friends into the mix, too. Old bandmates like Dave Jette, Keith Lowe and Henry Cooper whose slide guitar is slippery cool on the cover of Max Schwennsen’s “Back Out On The Run.” Mary Flower joins in on two numbers, with high note given to her lap slide playing on the swampy, spooky “Black Mangrove.” Dave Fleschner on keys, Carlton Jackson on drums and Jim Wallace on harp all deliver dynamite parts and the horn section of Joe McCarthy, Brad Ulrich and Chris Mercer blow out the desired groove every time.

There are a lot of special moments to be found on the album. In “Growing Old” Duffy tells us that “growing old is killing me, no matter how hard I try, things will never be where they used to be.” “Monkey Pants” starts with a classic soulful opening, then jumps into a fun, humorous piece that’ll have you singing along. Little George Seuref’s “Fingerlickin’” has long been a staple of Duffy’s live performances and a crowd favorite. The song has become a signature piece for her, filled with sexy powerful passion guaranteed to lighten up an audience every time. “Find Your Way Home” has that New Orleans flavor that continually builds its pace and it’s the perfect track to close out the recording. It is an essential Duffy Bishop that encompasses everything there is to like about her and the band.

Thank you Lord for helping Duffy Bishop find her way home back into the studio. Now let’s all throw on our monkey pants, turn up the volume and kick Find Your Way Home onto our players because the party is happening now! Yahoo!!

Total Time: 47:26

I Don’t Wanna Know About It / Get Up And Move / Growing Old / Monkey Pants / Black Mangrove / Fingerlickin’ / Back Out On The Run / It Tears Me Up / Fly / Find Your Way Home