Kathy Cramer - November/December 1997
Style: country
Line-Up: Kathy Cramer (vocals); Dennis Manuel (steel guitar); Raynie Gervais (fiddle); Darren Collier (electric and acoustic guitar); Earl Green and Nat Cade (electric guitars); Wayne Morgan (bass); Pete Martin (drums); John E. Walker (keyboards); Judy Wiebe, Chad Cazes, Winston Cazes (background vocals)
Contact: Kathy Cramer P.O. Box 2, Omega Site, RR#4 Quesnel, B.C., Canada, V2J 3H8 (250) 962-0654.M4X 1K2; Clint (204) 237-6502
Country gal Kathy Cramer’s debut CD was delayed by tragic circumstances when her mentor/producer/songwriter Ed LaFave died suddenly of a heart attack. The recording, partially completed at Blue Ridge Mountain Studios, a 32-track digital recording facility in Quesnel, BC, then moved, studio and all, to Cramer’s native Prince George with BRM owner Darren Collier taking over the board. The eponymously-titled album begins with the sprightly “A Hundred Miles From You” injected with some hoe-down fiddle. The song was picked up by U.S. radio syndicates The Best Of Country, which claims 78 markets and several million listeners. “Money Talks” and “I Was A Fool” are funkier country numbers, while the 27-year old singer is most tender on the pretty “We Were In Love” and earnest ballad “What’s Wrong With This Picture”. Cramer ends up using four LaFave originals on the album; she doesn’t receive a co-write on any of the album’s nine songs. Keeping the production and instrumentation sparse, the focus is put on Cramer’s sweet voice, which has country leanings without an affected twang.
