Haunt

Audra Mae | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 2009)
• Label: SideOneDummy Records
• ASIN: B002TG4M2A
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,187 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She tells her stories in songs, January 14, 2010

By 

Big Al "Alan Rivière" (Southwest, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Haunt (Audio CD)

Audra Mae, singer-songwriter, has been making up songs based on things she sees, hears, and does since the age of six. Here in this 5-song digital EP (Extended Play), she is again telling the listeners stories through her songs: "The River" is about washing her sins away and being "born again tomorrow"; it is a story of sin and redemption. "Silver Dollar" is a cover of the song originally performed by Marilyn Monroe in the 1954 film, River of No Return. It tells of the many stories of humanity as a silver dollar is "changing hand". "The Fable" is an interesting, but sad, tale about unacquired love between two wolves, as the chained he-wolf howls in his pan and the she-wolf cries in the forest. "Eli, the Barrow Boy" is a cover of the song in the 2005 album, Picaresque, by the Decemberist. It is a moving story of a street merchant, who pushed his barrow of goods "all down the day", so that he could buy his dead lover "a fine robe/Made of gold and silk Arabian thread". He kept pushing his barrow even after he had drowned and died. "Sullivan's Letter" is based on a note Audra Mae discovered on the back of a piece of music given to her by her father. It was about a letter written by a Civil War soldier, Sullivan Ballou, to his wife, saying that if he dies in battle, he would come back to her as "a soft breeze upon her cheek..." Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later in the first Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. (For the full text of the Sullivan Ballou Letter, see my comment below.)

Audra Mae sings her stories in songs in a rich "whisky" voice with a tad of a country twang, which is endearing to Southwesterners like myself. Her songs are more folk than country, which remind me of the works of Joan Baez and Mary Travers, with sparse instrument accompaniment, usually an acoustic guitar and a drum set, sometimes augmented with other instruments like mandolin, accordion, tambourine, piano, and pump organ. Audra Mae was born in Oklahoma, U.S.A in 1985, great grand niece of Judy Garland. She came to fame when she penned the lyrics of "What I was born to be", sung by the Scottish singer Susan Boyle, in her debut album "I Dreamed a Dream." Audra Mae is a talented singer-songwriter in her own right. She signed with the independent label SideOne Dummy Records on October 2009 and "Haunt" is the first EP under that label. A full-length album is due out in March 2010. (See my Amazon review @ The Happiest Lamb)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, January 4, 2010

By 

Owen J. Mahon (Lewisburg, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Haunt (Audio CD)

I noted a very different song while listening to WRNR in Maryland.It was called "The River" and I wrote down the name of the artist - Audra Mae. I couldn't wait to hear it again. I purchased this EP(?), my first ever, and was treated to The River and four more little gems. It all took me back to simpler times and music: simple guitar lines and basic drumming, mostly on the rims, with a touch of accordian in the background. Find a new soulful singer with a lush and spooky voice and record her in a place with its own natural echo.
The results are sublime. Can't wait for more. Owen Mahon

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gorgeous, December 28, 2009

By 

La Lectrice (los angeles, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunt (Audio CD)

Audra Mae has a stunning smokey voice. Her songs are both deep and dreamy without ever being cheesy or overproduced. Excellent rainy day/late night music.