Artist: Vivien Searcy
Album: Water On Soil
Year: 2006
Label: Ragdoll
Order-#: RAGCD611

© March 2007 / Bruno Michel

Back in 1995, a young american girl went to Sweden's capital, Stockholm, to study music - and she got stuck in the North of Europe. Six years later, she won a national songwriter contest and some studio time was her award. 2002, she performs with her band, The Ozarks, at the swedish Lida Country Festival and is being invited on a tour throughout Holland. In the following years, she increases her number of gigs and starts working on her debut album Water On Soil, which comes to the market in 2006.

To six of the eleven songs, Searcy has penned her own words and melodies. Modern arrangements wrap around uptempo songs such as Local Place or My Friend. Then you also can listen to more low-key titles, like Touch or the title track Water On Soil. Searcy proofs that she has also got a sense of humor with Dog Song, a track she wrote with her producer and manager, Patricia Viguurs.

Beside the above songs, I personally favor Another Rainy Day and Talk To The Hand. Vivien is another good example, that US artists can be successful in Europe, we have several such examples in our own country. Advice to festival promoters: Don't go looking across the big pond only, there's plenty of talent closer than you may think. Info on www.ragdollproduction.com