ARTIST: JACKIE MORRIS

TITLE: MONEY to BURN

LABEL: BUTTON BOX RECORDS

By Carl Gage

 

This second effort by the urban cowgirl from Carpenteria shows the maturity that comes with   dedication, hard work and much more than a little talent. Jackie’s first commercially available offering, Where the Legends Grow Like Weeds was well received and had a few jewels like the tribute to her mother, Louise, the engaging story of The Gold Country’s Turning to Wine and the beautiful songs Moth to a Flame and Right as Rain.

Money to Burn offers its own variety of stories, tributes and enchanting melodies. The humorous and upbeat departments are well represented by Everybody Needs Some Salsa, the wry Real Short Leash and the crowd-pleaser Solitary Socks, while her father is remembered this time around in The Writing on the Wall. However, the real attractions for lovers of beautiful music are Some Things Time Can’t Erase and the gorgeous Lady in Waiting.

Also of note are the haunting Over and Over; the title track which delivers a special message for the oil barons of the world; and China Blue, an insightful look at the future gleaned from a trip to China.

Overall this is a very entertaining and listenable collection that will have a place in the library of folk and singer/songwriter enthusiasts as well as anyone that likes acoustic-style music.

Hopefully we will be able to see Jackie perform selections from both of these albums in the near future and look forward to see what she has to offer next. In the meantime the CDs are available from CD Baby and individual tracks from both compilations are on MySpace (www.myspace.com/jmlegends), as well as iTunes and many other online stores.