WYNONNA SHINES AT SXSW DEBUT

Courtesy of SAG-AFTRA

“..belted out notes that would have made Aretha Franklin weep.”
--Ann Powers, NPR

“ Judd demonstrated that she had talent and personality to relaunch her own career, and have enough left over for three other acts.”
--Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone 

American music icon WYNONNA JUDD and her band The Big Noise--husband/producer/drummer Cactus Moser, guitarist Justin Weaver and bassist Dow Tomlin--raised the chapel's roof last Friday night (3/20) at the packed St. David's Bethel Hall in her SXSW debut performance. In its coverage of the show (below), Rolling Stone headlined its piece:  “Wynonna Judd Reinvents Herself On Small SXSW Stage.”

Taking the stage at midnight, WYNONNA mixed her classic solo hits as well as material from the Judds--and for the first time ever, she performed three new songs from her upcoming Moser-produced albumon Curb Records: “Cool Ya,” “Jesus and a Jukebox,” and her take on Buddy & Julie Miller’s “You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast.”

During her stirring stories-and-songs set, which was sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, WYNONNA recounted how Austin holds a very special place in her heart: she spent time in the city when she was 14 and had the opportunity to see Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmy rehearse.

NPR’s Ann Powers--who earlier in the day interviewed WYNONNA and Cactus as part of an official SXSW panel inside the convention center, also sponsored by SAG-AFTRA--was among those in the overflowing church. Of the 70-minute set, Powers wrote:

“The Nashville superstar is in transition, moving from studio-polished pop to a rawer, more intimate style in a small combo anchored by her husband and producer, Cactus Moser, on drums. Wynonna shared material from her upcoming album and reworked major hits like ‘She Is His Only Need’ with clean arrangements that highlighted her still-extraordinary voice…[she] belted out notes that would have made Aretha Franklin weep. ‘I was named after Wynonie Harris, so I'm blues on the inside,’ she declared before delivering a face-melting version of Robert Johnson's ‘Crossroads.’ Wynonna let it all hang out tonight. It was clear she can get wherever she wants to go.” (3/21/15).

Gary Graff of Billboard noted that “…it was appropriate she played her first South By Southwest show ever at the Bethel Hall in St. David's Episcopal Church, where less than 250 faithful--and some new converts--witnessed an intimately soulful and soul-baring performance that was loose and heartfelt. The set mixed her irreverent wit with some genuinely poignant commentary…[she] certainlyshowed plenty of heart during the nearly 70-minute, 14-song show, as well as her lusty, force-of-nature pipes that reverberated with formidable authority around the high, wooden church ceiling.” (3/21/15).

Rolling Stone’s Gavin Edwards shared: “…Judd played music, both her old hits and three new tunes from a forthcoming, unfinished album. Without overblown production, the emphasis was on her big, bluesy voice — she said that at an early age, she wanted to be known as ‘Shelvis,’ and her Presley roots came through as she took control of her own music, and her own story…Judd demonstrated that she had talent and personality to relaunch her own career, and have enough left over for three other acts.” (3/22/15)

Elsewhere, Eric Webb of Austin American-Statesman’s Austin360.com raved: “…country legend Wynonna Judd kicked off an intimate — but bless your heart, you better believe larger than life — SXSW set at St. David’s Bethel Hall shortly after midnight…It would be hard to imagine another show at the festival like this one. Judd, in command of her high-octane, virtuoso voice and fiery personality, wove classic standards, unreleased songs from her forthcoming album, humble reflections and side-splitting yarns together seamlessly.” (3/21/15)

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