Offbeat Mag review by John Swenson

Praise for “Sugar”

Photo by Zack Smith

Some of the feedback we’ve gotten for Sugar on the Floor:

…when you scrawl “Sugar on the Floor Dec. 6 WNCW” on an old napkin, and ten days later you still remember how good that song was but you can’t recall the name, and need to find that napkin somewhere in the pickup truck.  I found the napkin today, and what a fine song it is, every bit as good as I when I heard it that evening.

Kind regards,

Wright Sullivan
Inman SC

………….

I do an Americana radio show called “Tupelo Honey” at KRVM in Eugene, Oregon. I stumbled into Lynn’s new disk on line, bought it as a digital download and have been giving it tons of radio spins. It’ll be my choice as one of the top cd’s of 2011.

Some of the other DJ’s at my station have been asking about Lynn so I figured it’s about time I get a hard copy to pass around the station. It’s a disc worthy of serious airplay!

Can you send me a CD?

XXXOOO
Shotgun
KRVM

…………….

Hello Lynn, i am floored by your most recent disc, picked it up in nola during jazzfest , it is the best thing i have heard this year.

Bluest Regards,
Connor Grimes

Lynn’s 60 Second Interview with Chris Rose

http://www.fox8live.com/content/entertainment/chris_rose/story/Chris-Rose-60-seconds-with-Lynn-Drury/GOKw_Y6llUGvWfZmepqMZg.cspx

Thursday Feb 16th at Cafe Istanbul

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!!  Here come the Honeypots!  Thursday, Feb 16th ,after you’ve caught your silver slipper at the Muses parade, come by Cafe Istanbul for an evening of harmony and other delights as the Honeypots do their thing.  With Monica McIntyre on vocals & cello, Margie Perez on vocals, Lynn Drury on vocals & guitar and August Jepson on percussion.. Come hear something sweet..show at 11pm (immediately following Michaela Harrison..another talented Goddess in our great city)

Friday, Feb 17th Cafe Negril (Frenchmen Street) 7-10pm with Casandra Faulconer, Chris Pylant

Saturday, Feb 18th Kerry Irish Pub with Chris Pylant, Ted Long & Damien Louviere

Sunday, Feb 19th Buffa’s Lounge (Esplanade Ave) 8pm & after parade,  Duo with Alex McMurray

Sunday, Feb 26th DBA on Frenchmen Street, 10pm with Bill Malchow,  Alex McMurray, Chris Pylant  & Casandra Faulconer

Upcoming shows in March!

Saturday, March 3rd, Lynn will play a show with Johanna Divine at the Feed and Seed, in Lafayette, LA.

Voodoo Pics by Tyler Austin

Gambit Review of “Sugar”

Lynn Drury’s Sugar On The Floor brings back the best of the mid-1970s, when singer/songwriters created some great rock ‘n’ roll. Most of the songs on the album have a country twinge that complements Drury’s vocals and melodies without distracting from them. Guitarist Tommy Malone contributes great understated leads on “Butterfly” and “Can’t Hold On.” Drummer Carlo Nuccio plays with just the right emphasis and tempo to let Drury’s lyrics shine. Her voice comes across strong where it needs to and with a certain resignation and weariness appropriate to some songs’ more troubled stories. The best tracks feature unvarnished tales of New Orleans nightlife. Songs like “City Life” (with its great refrain “Messed up is better than pretty”) and “Frenchmen Street” (where, according to Drury, “All is forgiven”) are anthemic in their spot-on portrayal of late-night antics in local bars. Some tunes are lighthearted, but Drury also writes about the darker side of those habitués, as in the menacing tone of “You’ve Got A Way,” “Never Wanna Be Like You” and the deceptive horn-accented reggae of “Chemical Road,” which could also work as a metaphor for the way Louisiana depends on the industries of Cancer Alley, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, while people residing near the plants suffer the consequences. Or not. But that is what gives the songs staying power. They are catchy and accessible enough to sing along to but leave enough room in the lyrics for the listener to devolop their own interpretation. — Kunian – Gambit

Gambit  Online view

Honeypots added to Threadhead Label!

We beez happy happy!! Threadhead Records will add the Honeypots to their roster of New Orleans homespun talent.  We will receive much-needed funding to record a full-length cd in response to a growing demand from our fans!  Thanks to the Threadheads for helping us to fully realize this project.   We are stinging with delight:-) To donate to the Honeypots project: http://www.threadheadrecords.com/2011/07/21/the-honeypots-project/

Offbeat Mag review by John Swenson

“Sugar on the Floor is Lynn Drury’s trump card. The talented New Orleans singer-songwriter has built a strong local following through her emotionally-charged live performances, but her strengths as a musician and songwriter haven’t been adequately captured on record until now. Part of the problem is that New Orleans is a difficult environment for songwriters. Maybe Drury’s career would have taken off sooner if she’d done the obvious thing and followed Lucinda Williams to Texas, where the latter was easily categorized on her way to stardom. But Drury is stubborn—an attractive quality in an artist—and insisted on sticking by her roots in Mississippi and Louisiana. The New Orleans music scene is all the better for Drury’s intransigence.”

Sugar on the Floor is a powerful statement made with some of the city’s best local musicians, a record made on the artist’s own terms that shows how diverse New Orleans music can be. The backing is provided by producer Carlo Nuccio, who plays drums and bass throughout, and Alex McMurray, who presents an array of musical personalities with a tour-de- force performance on lead and rhythm guitars. Tommy Malone adds other guitar parts, Ivan Neville plays organ, and a select group of other players perform Matt Perrine’s superbly-crafted string and horn arrangements.

On previous albums, Drury sounds like she’s aspiring to become part of something bigger, country or Americana, whatever. This time around, she is clearly not trying to fit in anywhere; the performances are tailored to the songs, and Drury’s lyrics are rendered more the way she sings them live, in short, dramatic bursts that enforce the narrative. Her sweet, languid country side is well expressed on “It Was Late” and the beautiful “Butterfly,” while “Smiley Face” and “Frenchmen Street” roll with a New Orleans R&B groove and the title track and “Never Wanna Be Like You” could be alt-rock exercises. The best thing about this album is that it presents Drury as a New Orleans personality. She’s tough, likes to take on challenges and doesn’t flinch at the consequences. The guy with the bad reputation wants to “take me fishin’” on “You’ve Got a Way” and she’s fascinated by him. No wonder she finds her “energies scattered all around” and ends up complaining “you just spilled my love like sugar on the floor.” She might be moved to tell him “Never Wanna Be Like You,” and she might sing in dismay that she “can’t hold on to anything anymore,” but she always picks herself to sing “Take another dose… no we don’t say no.”  –John Swenson (Offbeat Magazine)

Offbeat Online view

Drury Rocks Rhythm Revival in Oxford, MS

[...Music at Proud Larry's will begin at 7:30 with Mississippi native Lynn Drury (on the OT cover this week). Drury has found a home in New Orleans where she has grown as a musician through the local touring scene. Drury is a genuine singer/songwriter who writes about love, loss, triumph and everyday experiences, which come together to blend a mixture of her Mississippi roots with a heavy New Orleans funk influence.

Drury's latest album, "Sugar on the Floor," was released in April of this year after she received a grant in February from the New Orleans-based non-profit Threadhead Records Foundation. Her latest album features a crisp, tight, melodic backing band with a powerful horns section and wailing keys, perhaps Drury's way of tipping her hat to the New Orleans culture. One of the highlights is a track called "Chemical Road," a song that not only emphasizes the singer's catchy, toe-tapping, lyrical composition, but also opens up to dueling licks being traded off by her talented backing band.

Drury will make her celebrated return to Oxford for the first time since 2006 when she played the local circuit with Cary Hudson. Drury has even deeper Oxford ties as she cut her fourth album, "All You Need," with legendary local musician Jimbo Mathus, back in 2006. Drury recorded "All You Need" at the Delta Recording Studios. ] ..

“That was truly something else,” said Drury. “We cut the album in about a week and it was the last album to be recorded in the Clarksdale studio before they moved to Como.”

Mississippi Grit Meets New Orleans Groove

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“Sugar On the Floor,” Drury’s recent release, represents a mixture of her Mississippi grit / New Orleans groove and grander styles with horns and strings arranged by Matt Perrine. The stellar lineup includes Alex McMurray (Tin Men, Royal Fingerbowl), Tommy Malone (Subdudes), Ivan Neville, Helen Gillet, Bill Malchow, and Eric Traub. Produced by Carlo Nuccio (who also plays drums on the album), much of the disc was recorded and engineered by Jacques DeLatour at Fudge Recording Studios in New Orleans. “Sugar On the Floor” was released in spring 2011.


An Award-winning Singer/Songwriter

Offbeat Magazine dubbed Drury’s “Spun” the Best New Release of 2003 and presented Drury with an award for Best Emerging Singer/Songwriter in 2004. She was also nominated for Best Roots-Rock Album (“All You need”) at the Big Easy Awards in 2006.

Love and Loss

Lynn Drury’s compositions are as rich and full of visual imagery as life itself. Often autobiographical, each song is carefully crafted around its initial inspiration, ranging from love and loss to beauty and butterflies. Her sound combines the twang and grit of her native Mississippi and the funky grooves of her adopted home of New Orleans.