Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Kristi Johnson is a capable blues guitarist and a startlingly fine singer and songwriter. On her debut album she leads a bare-bones trio (augmented by the occasional guest musician) through a program of hardheaded blues and R&B, most of it original. "Train" starts things off with a bang: after a slow-strutting intro, the song transitions without warning into a quick blues shuffle, then breaks down as
Johnson takes her first solo, which alternates masterful understatement with fleet-fingered heat. "Shake Your Sugar Tree," another
Johnson original, sounds like a cross between Tin Pan Alley and early jump blues with a slightly nastier edge. And speaking of a nasty edge, "If I Ain't Got" is a slow, snarling scorcher; a brazen challenge to her lover punctuated by filthy guitar fills. Best of all is the soulful kiss-off "Outta Love."
Johnson doesn't maintain this level of quality perfectly -- her solo on "That Would Be Fine" is ponderous and sloppy -- but for a debut album, the level of musicianship here is very impressive. She'll probably only get better.