Jamsphere Review of "New Road Home", June 10, 2019
Monday, June 10, 2019 at 6:39PM An official Martin Guitar and Sennheiser endorsed artist, Deborah Berg is a performing songwriter and teacher with a 38-year musical career under her belt. Recorded at Grand Street Recording (Brooklyn, NY) with producer Ken Rich and mastered at Sterling Sound (New York, NY), her latest release “New Road Home”, (2019) is Deborah Berg’s third solo album, and sixth album to date, including her work with Julian Marshall as the 80’s band Eye to Eye. “New Road Home” is a fresh breath of honeysuckle-scented air on a lovely spring breeze. It stands so far above the Bro and Bad-girl country clones that haunt the airwaves these days. Deborah’s voice is like an angel from heaven – clear, gentle, yet majestic, and pure as cascading waterfall.
The minute you set your ears on “Gamble Everything For Love”, you are surrounded by well-written melodies and expertly executed lyrics which reach into the audience’s likely experiences with love, hopes, dreams and everyday living. Deborah Berg and her backing band play like a well-honed machine.
They deftly trade solos and rhythm parts without ever getting in each other’s way, and they play with spectacular understated dynamics – knowing just how to bring tempo and volume up and down to underscore the songs, and allow Deborah’s spectacular voice to take center stage.
And she truly takes center stage on the minimalistic, mid-tempo “Meet Me In The Middle”. Deborah Berg could sing the Nashville phone book and it would be worth treasures untold. Here her voice is so powerfully nostalgic and full of steely-eyed beauty, as she wrings every scrap of available beauty out of the chorus with smooth confidence.
She does even better on the swampy “Sliver of a Moon” dropping into an edgier, and even more resonant tone. Deborah’s performance comes off as exhilarating, natural and blissfully unforced. In every instance, the track rises to the impossibly high bar set by its predecessors.
“Muddy Weather” breaks the somber mood with an upbeat rhythm and plenty of string instruments – strummed, plucked and pulled. Deborah provides an impeccably warm and sweet vocal as she locks into the pulse of the rhythm.
“Full Circle” is the kind of quality music one would expect from Deborah Berg after her years in the music business. Her voice has that nuanced, clear quality that makes one want to listen closely and hear every word. Alongside her the band weaves a mesmerizing palette of pastel colors that soothes the soul.
The featured single, “You’re Gone”, features dominant bass and a well-defined rhythm that marches forward at an energetic pace, intricately laced with perfectly matched harmonies and the accordion. Deborah’s voice adeptly dances as it finds its way through the verses, and then jumps out and grabs you and forces your attention.
Her only rival here being the violin, which is impeccably played to perfection here. “New Road Home” is everything a country, bluegrass, and roots record should strive to be. It never rests on its laurels and surprises the listener around every bend. Furthermore, it’s the perfect continuation of Deborah Berg’s craft and a worthy addition to any music collection.