Album Review: Scooter Lee, Midnight Hauler

Bred in the Louisiana bayou area of the American south, Scooter Lee has been recording prolifically since 1994, and has consorted with such rockin’ royalty as Allen Toussaint, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kris Kristofferson, June and Johnny Cash, and Fats Domino. A woman who packs a powerful voice, Lee often comes on like a countrified Janis Joplin meets Tanya Tucker, driving out of your speakers – just like her music travels all over the USA – and firing on all cylinders.

The opening, brass-driven title track lays down the marker for what follows: Lee’s voice bossing proceedings with a cracking full-tilt band. She brings a take-no-prisoners stance to her swamp-drenched stab at The Carpenters’ comparatively anodyne original of ‘Jambalaya (On The Bayou)’ – but to prove she can play the soft card too, she offers a slinky version of the Bill Haley ’50s hit ‘See You Later, Alligator’, and brings a more traditional country approach to her own ‘I Forgot To Remember’. She takes some of the edge off Buddy Holly’s gorgeous classic ‘Raining In My Heart’; and the nostalgic, self-penned and country-fiddle-led ‘Going Back To Louisiana’ brings incontrovertible evidence as to why she’s such a big hit with the line-dance constituency. Her own ‘Same Kind Of Crazy As Me’ has a convincing swamp feel, wedded to its tasty 12-bar format, and she closes proceedings with a sturdy ‘Big City’.

Backed throughout by some ace musicians, Lee’s flexible vocal style enables her to range far and wide around country/blues/rock territory. Although she has conquered some parts of Europe and toured the UK and Ireland, she’s not yet made such a big a dent in these parts. Yet, that is. Given her impressive work-rate and her winning way with a hot tune, that might only be a matter of time.

Out now.