“‘Meet Me In The Middle’ is one of those albums that has bags of quality, a generally cracking range of tracks and an old-school, acoustic blues mastery that is seldom found these days.”
— Iain Patience, Bluestown Music NL
Erin Harpe’s new album “Meet Me In The Middle” – featuring Jim Countryman – follows up a trio of successful albums with her band, Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers. Erin goes back to her roots in Piedmont and country blues for this intimate acoustic album, self-produced and recorded in her home studio during the pandemic lockdown, with husband/bass player/audio engineer Jim Countryman. The album was released October 30th, 2020 on VizzTone/Juicy Juju Records, and it features 10 tracks – four self-penned songs, and her own interpretations of traditional tunes and songs by blueswomen from Memphis Minnie to Sippie Wallace, with styles ranging from traditional country blues and slide guitar to folk, Zydeco, and Mississippi John Hurt-style gospel.
The new recording has been hailed as “today’s country blues at its very best” by Living Blues Magazine, who crowned Erin “one of the finest fingerpicking acoustic blues singers in the land”! Featuring Erin on acoustic guitars, vocals, kazoo & foot percussion, with longtime partner/bassist Jim Countryman on ukulele bass & backing vocals.
The album has gotten rave reviews (read the full articles below!) & plenty of radio airplay – debuting at #13 on the Billboard Blues Chart, and making it to #6 on Relix/Jambands.com Radio Chart, #7 on iTunes Top US Blues Albums, #9 on the North American College & Community Radio's Top 30 Blues Chart, #8 (Top 50 Contemporary Blues Albums) & #15 (Top Blues Albums) on the Roots Music Report Charts, and #17 on the Living Blues Radio Chart, as well as making several year-end top 10 lists for 2020!
Listen to the album (right >>) while you read some of the fantastic reviews it's been getting, below! Or click here to get the album and other new merch!
The album has gotten plenty of great reviews from all over the world, including: MOJO, Living Blues Magazine, Blues Blast, Paris Move, and many more. Read the full reviews by clicking “read more”!
Click the PLAY button to listen to the album:
“Erin is a master of finger-picking blues... The ease with which she plays the blues on this recording is clear from the start... My favorite on the album is Rollin’ & Tumblin’. Erin somehow manages to infuse this much played (and loved) number with a spirit of freshness and a bit of joie de vivre, which is what we desperately need at the moment.”
–Steve Banks
Read more“It’s genuine, passionate, totally convincing, and outright joyous, a pure listening pleasure, today’s country blues at its very best... the best comparison would be early Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, or Eleanor Ellis, if you add a spicy amalgam of Memphis Minnie’s unabashed kickass attitude... The earthy Erin Harpe understands her musical heritage as a woman and she sings as passionately and, well, as “hot” as the best of the greats of bygone days, with her rich and smoky voice...
One can play the roots country blues differently, louder or faster, to try to impress and dazzle. But nobody today plays and sings it better.”
–Frank Matheis
Read more“an energized guitarist who stands tall next to both her progenitors and other women mining the same territory like Rory Block and Fiona Boyes. Plus, her voice is unique for its high register delivery, adding a richness and more contemporary take on the raw and randy songs of blues’ first generation of female shouters.”
–Don Wilcock
Read more“an excellent storyteller… a troubadour, like Roy Book Binder... she just seems to have so much fun in her playing and she certainly puts everything into it”
–Marty Gunther
Read more“Erin Harpe has wooed me over with her latest record… Meet Me in the Middle is a must for blues fans.”
–Phillip Smith
Read more“Erin Harpe is a second generation, finger-picking guitarist from New England who has established a strong reputation with her band The Delta Swingers but here, on her fourth outing on Vizztone, she has stripped things right back... a very enjoyable album.”
–John Mitchell
Read more“a consummate picker with bags of accomplished ability and an assurance that seems to grow with each new release. Her voice is raw and emotive, powerfully passionate and clearly confident and boiling as needed... it’s a true delight to have this wonderful album featuring Harpe pretty much picking and performing at her very best here... ‘Meet Me In The Middle’ is one of those albums that has bags of quality, a generally cracking range of tracks and an old-school, acoustic blues mastery that is seldom found these days.”
–Iain Patience
Read moreErin Harpe deserves to be accorded a spot along with Rory Block and just a few others in the high echelons of acoustic blueswomen.
–Steve Daniels
Read more“She is a marvelous guitarist, and her slide playing evokes the late Alan Wilson of Canned Heat fame... Erin Harpe, a first-rate interpreter of traditionally rooted blues, has produced another gem of a recording.”
–Ron Weinstock
Read more“an excellent storyteller… a troubadour, like Roy Book Binder... she just seems to have so much fun in her playing and she certainly puts everything into it”
–BluesBlues UK
Read more“If you’re a fan of great acoustic finger picking, Erin Harpe’s new record will do right by you... the disc is good fun... A gentle, unassuming record with restorative powers here... use, and enjoy.”
–The Rock Doctor
Read more“...soulfully sung and masterfully played... Always a fine entertainer, Harpe has become an acoustic blues woman with style. Check out this great new recording from the duo of Harpe and Countryman.”
–Richard Ludmerer
Read more“Erin Harpe is certainly one of the most expressive female voices of the authentic acoustic country blues scene. GREAT”
–Vicente Zumel
Read more“Her slide playing is more like Leo Koettke than Johnny Winter and it's a good example of how her unique style is as much how her voice and guitar support each other as it is the actual notes she plays… Great finger-picking country blues guitar and an expressive voice that is authentic and from the heart. Why isn't this woman famous?”
–AJ Wachtel
Read more“A great gateway drug for the blues newbie, this is the stuff that'll really get you hooked. Killer stuff throughout.”
Read more“Beyond her undeniable instrumental skill, this damsel is endowed with a tone as powerful as it is cheeky, and her man provides flawless rhythmic support. That we can still enjoy this kind of record in 2020 is almost enough to prove the existence of God!”
–Patrick Dallongeville
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