Trick Pony  (Audio CD) 
by Trick Pony

California-born lead singer Heidi Newfield proves to be Trick Pony's real trick on the debut album from this brash, talented, and road-tested trio. She summons up growling, yelping, howling Janis Joplin-like intensity on tough-but-tender cuts like "On a Night Like This" and "Party of One." She even holds her own with guest vocalists Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash on Trick Pony's cool rockabilly reprise of Cash's "Big River." Newfield's compatriots Keith Burns (guitar and vocals) and Ira Dean (bass and vocals) are decent musicians, but when Newfield fades into the background on second-rate songs like "Just What I Do," "One in a Row," (two of eight songs cowritten by band members), and "Can't Say That on the Radio" the results are far less memorable. On raucous songs like "Pour Me" and "Spent" they indulge in the sort of flashy, aggressive, louder-is-better overkill that typifies far too many young, rowdy retro-rockabilly/honky-tonk bands. On the other hand, when Newfield sinks her emotional teeth into more inspired band compositions like the brassy but vulnerable "Every Other Memory" and the introspective "More Like Me" (which features some great three-part harmony arrangements), Trick Pony back up their youthful verve and abandon with some real heart and soul. --Bob Allen