Wendy Bailey

"Rock 'n' Roll" is almost an overused these days, with bombast and technical over proficiency mistaken for the ability to "rock," but when you hear the real deal, you know it. You need to hear Wendy Bailey.



While she is a wonderful acoustic performer, she is also a certified rocker - her tunes carry enough melody to edge them into hard power pop territory, with a surplus of melody packed into their brief airtimes. The playing is just as in the pocket - Bailey is an inspired guitarist with the chops to back it up.
Her music is song oriented, with the hook all important. It's a style honed through years of performing, at venues from Nashville to Seattle. Each tune reels in the listener, crafted to tug at the heart or shout along with. The five tracks included on It Ain't Rocket Surgery are a precursor to Bailey's debut album, due later in 2009 and while that disc is still in its early stages, all of the key elements are already in place here. These are songs written in classic "singles" mode. That is to say, songs that are infectious and to the point. It's the rare Bailey track that reaches much past 3:00.
The obvious single is "Harmless," an anthemic rocker, but the angular, edgy "I Swear I Say" comes a close second and then there's the wonderfully titled "She Walks Groovy," which sounds exactly like the title indicates it will. Two solo acoustic tracks, "Missing" and "Cedar Tree" round out the CD, the perfect preview for both Bailey's live show or upcoming album It's almost a cliché to say she knows her way around a melody, but theses tracks prove the point.
In addition to recording, Bailey will be touring the West Coast and Arizona throughout 2011. In the meantime, It Ain't Rocket Surgery provides an excellent entry point into the music of Wendy Bailey.



I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)