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Sena Ehrhardt: Leave the Light On

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Blind Pig Records
Released: 2011.08.16
Time:
 40:00
Category: Blues, Blues-Rock
Producer(s): Andrew Crowley
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.senaehrhardt.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2014
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] My Bad (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 3:20
[2] Leave the Light On (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 3:34
[3] On the Clock (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 2:48
[4] Lovers Can't Be Friends (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 3:09
[5] The Best Thing (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 4:22
[6] Same Team (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 2:55
[7] Last Chance (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 6:26
[8] You're the One (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 4:34
[9] Hear Me (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 4:29
[10] Fool Out of Me (E.Ehrhardt/S.Ehrhardt) - 4:23

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Sena Ehrhardt - Vocals
Edward Ehrhardt - Guitar

Andrew Crowley - Mixing, Producer
Jeff Roberts - Engineer
Derek DeMike - Mixing
Blaise Barton - Mastering
Dean Tollefsrud - Graphic Design, Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2011 CD Blind Pig Records - BPCD 5141



Sena Ehrhardt is unquestionably one of the freshest and most dynamic young voices on the blues scene. Once the lights come on, her commanding stage presence and gritty, soulful vocals capture the audience, belying her youthful, demure appearance. The buzz about Sena is poised to go nationwide as word is getting out about her incendiary performances at clubs and festivals across the upper Midwest. On her brilliant debut recording, Leave The Light On, her songs are fresh and incisive, delivered in a style that moves effortlessly from sultry to declarative to passionately forceful.

Amazon.com



Sena Ehrhardt is a powerful young blues vocalist who is poised to break out of her Upper Midwest stomping ground and take her thing worldwide. Her debut album, Leave The Light On, is an impressive outing, full of deep blues, soul, and funk tunes that demonstrate not only her vocal chops but also her ability as a songwriter, as there is nary a cover to be found, which is almost unheard of in the blues. The songs were written with her father, Ed Ehrhardt, a veteran blues guitarist who also plays in Sena’s band and fostered a love of blues music in his talented daughter. Sena has taken her fathers’ influence and combined it with a few years of her own performing experience to come up with her own blues sound that is original yet still familiar.

One of the coolest things about this record is the small band sound of her trio (Dad Ed on guitar, Steve Hansen on bass, and drummer Tim Hasler) topped off with Sena’s remarkable voice. The trio format leaves a lot of room for her vocals to shine and gives listeners a hint at the band’s live sound. Tunes like the album opener “My Bad”, “Lovers Can’t Be Friends”, and the title track show Sena and company navigating the many moods of the blues in fine and memorable style. She is a strong, sassy, take-no-prisoners type of singer and long-time blues fans should find a lot to like here. Hopefully, Sena will also attract some younger fans to blues music, which is also nothing but good. It will be cool to see her develop and live out her musical journey over the next few years and albums; but this is an excellent first record and you should go out and buy it, especially if you are wondering what the future of the blues will sound like.

Mike O’Cull - Chicago Blues Guide



"From track to track, Ehrhardt establishes that she is capable of crooning softly or wailing with the best of them. The Sena Ehrhardt Band are going to make a lot of waves in the blues world and her new album is just the first ripple in a widening ocean of blues from this band...one of the hottest new blues outfits in the country."

Blues Revue



"Sena Ehrhardt has a bright, soulful sound, and she doesn't hold back-she can go from sultry and coaxing to gritty and gusty in an instant. With Leave the Light On  the Sena Ehrhardt Band should  get the attention of blues lovers as well as a mainstream audience that appreciates good songwriting and music with a feeling."

Living Blues



"Blues-rock with streaks of passionate rebelliousness. Young Sena Ehrhardt has the mettle of a seasoned blues trooper. Her essential vocal quality is an air of assertive defiance."

Downbeat



"The youthful Minneapolis-based singer hits the blues turf running on her debut disc and serves up a captivating set of simultaneous fire and ice...a set of originals as fresh sounding as the voice that delivers them. Make way for a rising star."

Jazz & Blues Report



"A wicked sense of soul power.  Ehrhardt creates an atmosphere of lamp-light jazz club, diva-esque swagger through effortless vocal bends and brassy, wrapped-around-her-finger inflections that will have the listener hanging on every word. Ehrhardt enchants with a hard-knock heart full of blues and unrepentant female soul."

Elmore



Sena Ehrhardt is unquestionably one of the freshest and most dynamic young voices on the blues scene today.  Once the lights come on, her commanding stage presence and gritty, soulfully emotional vocal prowess capture the audience, belying her youthful, demure appearance. The buzz about Sena is poised to go nationwide as word is getting out about her incendiary performances at clubs and festivals across the upper Midwest, and people get a chance to hear her brilliant debut recording, "Leave The Light On."
 
Sena was born and raised in a house of blues. Through years of playing music in clubs and juke joints, her guitarist father, Ed Ehrhardt, laid the groundwork for a love of blues that eventually lead to the formation of the Sena Ehrhardt Band. Sena has taken those influences and several years of experience to forge her own personal and intelligent take on the blues.
 
Though her band's repertoire includes a wide range of blues, soul and funk cover tunes, Sena chose to record ten original compositions that she co-wrote with her father for "Leave The Light On." Her songs are fresh and incisive, delivered in a style that moves effortlessly from sultry to declarative to passionately forceful. Her band - Ed Ehrhardt on guitar, bassist Steve Hansen and drummer Tim Hasler - performs flawlessly throughout, matching Sena's drive and intensity.

Blind Pig Records



Growing up in a home filled with blues music and having a love and passion for blues for my entire life makes signing with Blind Pig Records a dream come true for me.  This music is my heart and soul and the album is a labor of love for those who have loved me.  I am so excited to see what the future holds and can't wait to bring our music to both long-time blues fans and a new generation of listeners.  The blues is about feeling - and this feels so good!

Sena Ehrhardt, May, 2011


 
Sena is a very striking performer who has it all going on. She is a great vocalist who really knows how to put her all into a performance. She is a real knock-out and her father Ed Ehrhardt is a fantastic guitar player. Put this band on your must see list!

Bob Kieser - August, 2010
Blues Blast Magazine



The saying goes that if you’re going to be in the entertainment business, you better like being looked at. Judging from her come-hither stare on the cover and the amount of leg she’s showing on the back photo of her debut album, Leave The Light On, you get a sense that Sena Ehrhardt doesn’t mind if you look, or even leer for that matter.

But whether her ambition is to be a serious singer and songwriter or just another plaything for the boys remains very much a question. The issue isn’t whether the girl can sing. She can. But, what does she do to separate herself from every other aspiring diva with a knack for bending the blue notes of a scale?

As co-writer of the ten original songs that comprise Leave The Light On, it’s a pretty safe bet that the lyrics are Sena’s domain. And though her verses strive toward thoughtful expression, particularly when they center on relationships and the never-ending search for a good man, her lines are clunky, overrun with trite blues clichés and “keepin’ it real” street vernacular that doesn’t quite pull off the ruse of a white girl trying to sound black.

While lack of craftsmanship in songwriting is by no means relegated to the blues genre, it does perpetrate its crimes in this arena with almost unfailing regularity. Indeed, it seems that the pervading thought among blues players is that any I-IV-V progression constitutes a song, provided you dress it up with enough chromatic turnarounds and extended guitar solos.

The material on Leave The Light On is especially heavy on the latter. Apparently, there’s a family connection between Sena and her chief collaborator, guitarist Ed Ehrhardt, who happens to be her father. Judging from the number of string-bending forays in and around the pentatonic box, which Dad visits both aggressively and repeatedly, one would assume that the album’s producer didn’t have the stones to suggest a fresher approach.

The guitar levels are jacked so high even Dad’s rhythm playing overpowers the bass and drum, which mix-wise, sound like they’ve been strained through cotton. That ought to give some indication as to who’s paying the electricity bill around here!

Fortunately, Dad eschews sending sparks off his fret board just long enough to showcase some tasteful Les Paul-style arpeggios on the sing-along, “On The Clock.” The relentless up-stroke guitar rhythm that drives the tune as though it were a ticking clock is a device that really works. This, coupled with a simple backing vocal response of, “Tick-Tock,” not only gives a sense of urgency to Sena’s dire message of warning that we are all running short on time, but also adds a coat of polish to the song’s overall presentation.

If the song’s brisk running time is any indication, the group may have envisioned “On The Clock” as a possible radio-ready single. Unfortunately, the abrupt ending at 2:48 kills any hope of catching a sustained buzz from the tune. Whether by design or born out of laziness, the decision to cut things short only points out that there are many strong players, but too few good songwriters. A good writer would have known better.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any better than “On The Clock.” The album’s remaining tracks are so pedestrian they barely deserve mention. Their basic concept and structure inhabit the same boring bucket of froth that the so-called purists insist on churning out decade after decade, as if a pure blues renaissance patiently awaits them.

Contrary to what you may believe, there’s no fun in throwing cold water on somebody’s main hope and ambition. If given the opportunity, I would attempt to assuage my criticism of Leave the Light On by offering Sena two small pieces of unsolicited advice.

First, check out Duffy, the young Welsh singer who found an international audience with her hit single, “Mercy.” For those unfamiliar with the tune, “Mercy” is a basic I-IV-V progression set to a pop beat, its digitally enhanced vocal a perfect mélange of sex and soulfulness that hooks the listener on so many levels it ought to be classified as an illegal substance. It’s young, it’s fresh, it’s hip, and yes… it’s BLUES!

The obstacle, of course, lies with the realization that the purists, and I believe Sena’s Dad to be a card-carrying member of that brigade, want no part of young, fresh or hip, musically speaking, that is. They prefer instead to convalesce, hunched over their Stratocasters, still trying to nick Clapton’s solo on “Crossroads” note-for-note.

The mere thought leads me to my second piece of advice for young Sena Ehrhardt, which is simply this: If you want to make it in the music business, Sena, run away from home… immediately!

Tony Del Rey - November 2011
Boston Blues Society
 

 L y r i c s


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 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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