Album Review: Kacey Cubero - Fill Your Cup (Sweetest Meanest Music)

Kacey Cubero's third album release is a rich mixture of soulful Americana and melodic alt-country, with intelligently written songs and a bright and breezy approach to arrangement and performance. The versatile alt-country singer-songwriter moves effortlessly between bluegrass (Two Trains), rockabilly (I Want More) gutsy blues (Set You Free), to sweaty rock and roll (I Reserve the Right) unafraid to enter the breach stylistically at any given point.  

Feather in the Wind earned the Washington DC-born songwriter a prestigious win at the 2009 MAVRIC Independent Music Awards for the best folk song of that year, possibly due to its infectious feel-good vibe, not unlike Nilsson's Everybody's Talking or Danny O'Keefe's Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues. 

With a band consisting of Josh Davis on guitars, Sam Bolle and Dave Sutton sharing bass responsibilities and Tom Lackner on drums, FILL YOUR CUP captures an artist at the top of her game, with twelve contrasting songs. Whilst Old Cadillac has all that laid back front porch immediacy, with just a couple of blues-soaked acoustic guitars and a confident and soulful vocal performance, worthy of a Bonnie Raitt comparison, Under My Skin and the title cut Fill Your Cup lean more towards Van Morrison and Robert Cray respectively.

The album closer Whatcha Gonna Do reveals an artist who can easily put aside all her bluegrass, rockabilly and country rock leanings in order to demonstrate a beautifully soulful side, with a convincing vocal performance together with an emotionally charged piano accompaniment. If my cup was half empty before I popped this on the player, then it has now been suitably filled.

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	Kacey Cubero Fill Your Cup Kacey Cubero 2009-10-20