Mobile Bay, Alabama native
Lisa Mills spent three years touring as a replacement for
Janis Joplin in a latter-day version of
Big Brother & the Holding Company, which should tell you a lot about her approach to singing. Possessed of a strong alto, she is the embodiment of Southern blue-eyed soul, shouting and wailing in ways that add a raspy tone to her voice. On
Tempered in Fire, however, she is spiritually coming from Memphis, Tennessee, not San Francisco, even if the album was recorded in Great Britain. Fronting a trio consisting of veteran British guitarist
Andy Fairweather Low, bassist Ian Jennings, and drummer Eric Heigle, she ranges from the boogying rockabilly of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (a song by
George Borowski, not the
Bacharach/
David standard) to the slow, torchy ballad "My Happy Song."
Wet Willie's 1974 Top Ten hit "Keep on Smilin'" gets a faithful treatment as a prime example of Southern rock, while "Why Do I Still Love You?" (written by
Mills and her band) sounds like it could have been cut in the Stax studio in the mid-'60s. Instrumentally,
Fairweather Low is the secret weapon in this music, practically deserving a co-headliner credit, especially when he and
Mills are the only performers, notably on the cover of
Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine."
Mills has concentrated on Europe, particularly the U.K., where
Tempered in Fire was released initially in 2010. But audiences in her native country deserve a chance to hear her, especially if they are fans of soulful ‘60s rock. ~ William Ruhlmann