Carrie Rodriguez
Lola
Release Date: Feb 19, 2016
Genre(s): Country, Folk, Latin, Americana, Mexican Traditions, Norteno, Tejano, Ranchera
Record label: Luz
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Album Review: Lola by Carrie Rodriguez
Excellent, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
No album in Carrie Rodriguez's ample catalog better represents her as an artist than Lola. It was recorded in Austin with producer Lee Townsend and the Sacred Hearts: bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarists Bill Frisell, David Pulkingham, and Luke Jacobs, drummer Brannen Temple, and Max Baca guesting on bajo sexto. Rodriguez delivers a set of originals and thoroughly reimagined standards by Mexican composers in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
Based on rating 4/5
Since her creative partnership with veteran songwriter Chip Taylor, the Austin, Texas singer and fiddler has grown in sophistication over the course of five solo albums. On Lola she foregrounds her Tex-Mex heritage, mixing Mexican classics from her childhood with self-written songs in Spanish and English. Rodriguez gets the blend right with an all-star band led by Bill Frisell’s deft, dreamy guitar.
Based on rating 4/5
Carrie Rodriguez is a Texan singer-songwriter and violinist whose repertoire includes country, folk and rock, but is at her best when she explores her Mexican roots. Her great aunt Eva Garza, a Spanish-language singing star in the 1940s, inspired Rodriguez to “create my own blend of Tex-Mex music”. It’s a mix of classic Mexican songs, many slow and unashamedly emotional, and her own compositions, which are often in the ranchera tradition.
Based on rating 7/10
Will we ever get to know the real Carrie Rodriguez? Sure, it’s documented that she’s the daughter of singer/songwriter David Rodriquez. Making her name working alongside mentor Chip Taylor, the pair released four collections of duets before Rodriguez struck out on her own a decade ago with her debut, Seven Angels on a Bicycle. A refreshing mix of Texas honky-tonk and New York coffee shop cool largely written by Taylor, Rodriguez followed with 2008’s brooding She Ain’t Me, positioning herself as a Laurel Canyon songstress.
Opinion: Very Good
Half covers album, half original compositions, half Spanglish – 150% all her own – native Austinite Carrie Rodriguez extends a familial legacy on Lola. Daughter of Houston-born songwriting great David Rodriguez, who died in October at 63, here she follows in the footsteps of her great-aunt Eva Garza, one of the first Latina crossover artists. Forties Mexico still cries for deep-red lips and poised chignons.
Opinion: Fairly Good
Carrie Rodriguez is no longer playing second fiddle… literally as well as figuratively. Having had an early career boost in her role as Chip Taylor’s chief musical foil, she now shows the veteran songwriter’s confidence was well invested. Nevertheless {Lola} finds her returning to her roots, courtesy of a set of songs that features several tunes sung in Spanish, many of which were written some of her favorite Mexican composers.
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