We review Pokerface Limbo
Kimberley Wheeler’s Roadside Holiday
Pokerface Limbo EP
Out 22 July 2020
By Rob Dickens
Kimberley Wheeler‘s dossier continues to flourish.
Regarded as a bluegrass blue-chip bass player (including a member of legendary all-star Australian bluegrass outfit Uncle Bill and providing the beat for idiosyncratic jazz and swing icon Dan Hicks), she has also key-noted for outfits such as Little Rabbit and Appalachian Heaven.
Add to that a Tillie’s Choice Award for her song “Watching Over Joan” and production credits for the Colvin Brothers and Corn Nut Creek. ♫
The diversity continues here with a five-track Americana EP under a new guise (Kimberley Wheeler’s Roadside Holiday) called Pokerface Limbo, released independently on 22 July 2020.
The light samba of “Merry-Go-Round” provides a vivid portrait of the impacts of playing with chemicals while the tender ballad “Down This Road” presents a resigned picture of another relationship gone wrong. Then there’s the catchy, defiant “Ordinary Shoes” (see clip below) and the traditional, lively “Willow Tree”. The aforementioned “Watching Over Joan” is given a nice re-working here – a striking and unconventional triumph for this creative and gifted artist.
Wheeler’s imprint is writ large here. As well as penning all the songs and performing lead vocals, she contributed mandolin, guitar and bass, as well as co-producing the collection with Oh Pep’s Pepi Emmerichs. Kat Mear, Emmerichs, Tanya Bradley and Cat Leahy all add meaningfully to the recording.
♫ Kimberley has also written for our own Listening Through The Lens, adding yet another string to her real-life bow!
ADVERTISE WITH LISTENING THROUGH THE LENS
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We review Pokerface Limbo
