Ghalia Volt boogies her way across the U.S.A. on her autobiographical new blues-rock single Hop On A Ride — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Driven by a hard-bouncing backbeat, goosed by honking harmonica and rollicking keyboards, and topped with Volt’s blazing slide guitar and sandy, sassy vocals, the rough-and-tumble track playfully traces the Belgian-born blueswoman’s musical and personal journey from Chicago to New Orleans, name-checking the cities and record labels that served as musical milestones along the way. “It’s really my story of young adulthood,” she says of the song she co-wrote with Eddie 9V. “I visited all those cities, dug all those vinyls from those labels — and definitely hopped on a lot of trains.”
It’s a journey that started in Brussels, where Volt began her career as a street performer before moving to the States without a driver’s license, traveling by train, bus, and even hitchhiking at times, ultimately settling in New Orleans some six years ago. More recently, the unstoppable performer made a pilgrimage to California’s Joshua Tree to record her new album Shout Sister Shout!, out today. Producer and Queens of the Stone Age collaborator David Catching welcomed her to Rancho De La Luna, also the site of recordings by Iggy Pop, Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey and many others.
Volt brought her own vibe and impressive credentials to Joshua Tree — along with a batch of great songs that she wrote on her 18-state One Woman Band tour, done via Amtrak, for which she carried guitars, amps and foot-drums herself. Her sound on Shout Sister Shout! has been likened to those of garage-rockers and psych-rockers such as Deap Vally, Mr. Airplane Man, Larkin Poe, Holly Golightly and early music by The Kills.
Album opener Every Cloud kicks off like a road movie soundtrack, its jutting lick and battle cry vocal interrupted by a woozy organ freakout worthy of The Doors’ Ray Manzarek. Can’t Afford To Die pairs its propulsive rockabilly rattle with a sobering lyric about cost-of-living. With its addictive beat and ghostly alt-gospel vocals, centerpiece Shout Sister Shout! demands to be heard. “It’s a song encouraging women to speak loud for what they deserve,” says Volt. “Fight back, stare back, scream back! It takes courage, but it’s rewarding and we need this for future generations.” Insomnia is a trip, its slow-burn psychedelia swirling from the speakers. The seething Hell Is Not Gonna Deal With You finds Volt spitting venom onto the mic, while Po’ Boy John is a cathouse rave-up.
The sounds of Shout Sister Shout! are bolstered by Lou Reed’s long-serving drummer Danny Frankel, who has also recorded with She & Him, Marianne Faithfull, Joan Jett, Social Distortion, Jim White and Fiona Apple; Dr. John keys man Ben Alleman; and Catching himself grabbing a guitar on some tracks. As for Volt, her perpetual motion is palpable on the North Mississippi-flavoured No Happy Home, which addresses the rambling, unrooted but rewarding life of a musician.
Volt’s One Woman Band album placed in the Billboard Blues Chart Top 10. She has collaborated on record with Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Grammy winner Boo Mitchell (Bruno Mars, Valerie June, John Mayer), and Cedric Burnside; become a favourite at festivals like Mississippi’s Juke Joint Fest and New Orleans’ French Quarter Fest; and opened shows for Burnside, Dragon Smoke (consisting of Ian Neville, Eric Lindell and Stanton Moore), Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, and soon, Eric Gales.
Listen to Hop On A Ride above, hear more from Ghalia Volt below, and give her a shout on her website, Facebook and Instagram.
