"REVIEWS"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  CD comes pumped and primed with originals, soon-to-be-heard radio tunes Country Stars Online
Joni Compretta - Out Of Mississippi
By: George Peden, CSO Staff Journalist (click for website)

Joni Compretta lives by a simple and dedicated creed. "Life is meant to be lived. If there is something dreamed of but too afraid to take a chance, do it now…grab your dreams… that’s what I’m going to do. No more waiting for tomorrow."
Since meeting with respected Nashville producer, Lonnie Ratliff, who with a host of budding independents has Erin Hay in his stable, Compretta has completed her debut release, Out Of Mississippi. Ratliff, who can spot talent in a football crowd, is excited about his latest charge.
"We have already released a couple of singles overseas and we are getting a lot of great feedback," says the head honcho of Nashville Showcase, a website dedicated to global radio play lists.
In the critical world of country music, a world where looks as well as good songs are the needed commodities, Compretta scores high on both counts. The easy-on-the-eye former nurse can count over 2000 hits on her website, and just to prove that looks and music do marry well, her 4000 plus downloaded tunes proves the point.
And no wonder. Her debut disk comes pumped and primed with originals, soon-to-be-heard radio tunes and a sprinkling of remembered hits. The album, complete with 12 tunes, also has the added polish of some studio notables including Perley Curtis, Mike Daly and Jim Unger.
The album entrée is the Carol Hashe-penned "Love Holds On", one of two tunes Hashe wrote on the album. "Love" is a mid-tempo salute to the power of devotion and strong love, a general theme that peppers this album. Long & Restless Nights" paints a similar setting, while the Dobie Gray classic, "Drift Away", comes reworked with some nifty Unger fiddling and some honeyed harmonies.
The Hugh Moffat memory, "Old Flames Can’t hold A Candle To You", is a song etched into the minds of country purists. It doesn’t fare too badly here from a singer with a voice that probably needs some more whiskey-soaked nights to reach emotional maturity, especially on a song that falls outside the modern bump and grind of new country. It’s not a tune I would have chosen for a relative novice, but apparently Ratliff saw its musical merit and pushed for its inclusion. The tune works out okay, but, for me, the danger is always in the dreaded comparison with the original.
"Only Lonely", the other Hashe tune, is a modern look at love through the emotions of a satisfied woman, one who would tour the clubs, if she were blue, but she won’t, because she’s only lonely for one particular person. Compretta nails the tune with her stylish vocal, energy and love-drenched feel, suggesting that contemporary tunes aimed at today’s market may score a bullseye. The tune has radio appeal, so too, the fiddle-laced and the heartache harmony of "When It Finally Happens". The album is now out.

 Great singing of some terrific tunes. Very refreshing.

Reviewer: Tony C.  from Mobile, Alabama
Great singing of some terrific tunes. Very refreshing.
A great mix of some good country and country rock tunes. It gives a lift to the heart when you listen to it. Very good arrangements.

  Reviewer: Ron Wayne Atwood  (Click for website)

Hi , I met Joni at the "Jamboree at the Lake" back in early May. She is a seasoned performer even at this early stage of her career. Her voice is as true on stage as it is on CD. I think she has all of the requirements to be a world class Country Entertainer and I wish her the very best in Success and Happiness! 
Sincerely, 
~ Ron A

Reviewer: John Heinrich (Click For Website)

Joni you are such a talent! remember the door to success is marked "PUSH"! John Heinrich

CD REVIEW: Joni Compretta - Out of Mississippi By Chip Withrow - 08/26/06 - 11:03 AM EST  The Muse's Muse   The first time I listened to this CD, I was tempted to dismiss it. It seemed like yet another attempt at country star-making - you know, someone else calling the shots, choosing the songs, grooming yet another pretty face as a product and not a performer. But I was wrong. (As my wife just said: "Changing your opinion. A sign of intelligence.") First of all, Joni Compretta can sing. Listen to "Long and Restless Nights," one of my favorite cuts on Out of Mississippi. She has the vocal presence of someone like Loretta Lynn, dramatic and authoritative, and the song swings. Later in the disc, "Old Flames" works the same way. These days, some popular country ballads veer too close to pop for my twangy tastes, but "Before You Turn to a Memory" suits me just fine. The band behind her adds some nice, heartbreaking touches of fiddle, mandolin, pedal steel and piano, and Joni turns in a sultry performance. The ballad "Even Now" is more typical of what you hear on country radio. "I Love You" also seems to be geared toward country-crossover appeal, but Joni kills on the vocal, and it is soul- and doo wop-influenced enough to be interesting. I was wary of her cover of the old Dobie Grey hit, "Drift Away." Too obvious a choice, I thought. (Certainly I was turned off because Uncle Kracker's bombastic version of a few years back annoyed me.) But Joni's is countrified with bouncy fiddle, and in the right hands you can't deny it's a great song. Joni can rock, too, "Baby Run That By Me One More Time" is peppy. I'd like to hear more of a snarl to the vocal on this one. But I'm not the producer, and Lonnie Ratliff seems to know what he's doing when it comes to getting Joni ready for bigger things. "Waitin' For Your Love To Come Around" has more swagger, like a good Bonnie Raitt tune. "The night goes down harder than a shot of whiskey" is a great line, too. "That's What Rock and Roll Means To Me" is a bit too obvious lyrically, but it's one of those songs that would appeal to classic rock fans who make the switch to country. The album closes on a pretty note with "When It Finally Happens." It starts with Joni's voice and guitar, and then the fiddle comes in. I'd love to hear a version with just those three instruments. I don't dig the idea of country industry execs crafting a willing performer to sound like what's popular at the moment. I'd like to see Joni Compretta succeed, and I'd like to see her avoid that trap. Out of Mississippi makes her sound like she's gutsy enough to do that.

Reviewer: Pete Smith ( Click For Website)Pete Smith's Reviews - Country Music Round Up (UK) - 2
pete_fabam@hotmail.com 
 Joni Compretta “Out Of Mississippi”. With so many great girl singers in country music these days it is hard for newcomers and relative newcomers to establish their credentials. That is unless your name is Joni Compretta. Joni has a stunning voice which she handles so confidently on songs varying in tempo and emotion from the tender “Before You Turn To A Memory” to the rocking “That’s what Rock ‘n’ Roll Means to Me”; from the powerful heart ballad “I Love You” to the honky tonk shuffle “Long And Restless Nights”. Joni shows she can refresh classics too with superb performances of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” and the Joe sun hit “Old Flames (Can’t Hold A Candle To You)”. www.jonicompretta.com An Album of the Month.

 

Reviewer: Ray Synkane -Southbound Beat Magazine (Click For Website)

While the title of this recording is “Out of Mississippi,” the sound is pure Nashville. Recorded at Dixiana Studio and Smokehouse Studio, both located in Nashville, this recording has all the qualities essential for a fine Country Music CD. The production values are top shelf, as are the artists who accompany Miss Compretta.

Joni Compretta sings with a voice that’s as fetching as her picture on the cover. Additionally, she has successfully avoided the pitfall common to female country western singers of exaggerating their country accents until it becomes as affected as Madonna’s newfound English accent. Joni Compretta sings with a clarity and pitch that gives credence to the twelve tracks on this record. How fortunate for us that she lets her pipes do the singing, instead of her twang.

An’ she’z right purdy, too! See for yourself at: http://www.jonicompretta.com

--Ray Synkane
 

  Joni Compretta - Out Of Mississippi   "Music News Nashville"
by Chuck Dauphin   (Click For Website)

Every now and then, and album title tells the story. Without going into all the details, Joni Compretta decided to move from Mississippi to Nashville to try her luck at the music business following Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. It might very well prove to be a wise decision. With her feet planted firmly on the traditional side of the fence, Compretta lets her soul show from the beginning with the up-tempo “Love Holds On.”

She turns a little twangier with “Before You Turn To A Memory,” which benefits from some nice fiddle work from Jim Unger. There’s a Strait swing feel to “Long And Restless Nights” that she handles very nicely, and she handles the heartbreak of songs like “Even Now” quite well,too. She tips her hat to Dobie Gray (“Drift Away”) and Dolly Parton (“Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You”), and she avoids the oft-made mistake of trying to make them her own. What she does make her own, however, is the album’s closing cut, “When It Finally Happens,” which is her strongest showcase. Joni Compretta---remember the name!
 

  The Total Package!
Reviewer: George O. (Pete) Love  (Click For Website)
"Out of Mississippi " is one of the best new artist CDs I have ever heard. Joni Compretta takes us on a musical journey through the soulful ballads to the bluesy side of country and lands the listener on the more reflective side of country, this CD weaves a bright pattern of musical artistry not normally found in a new work. This Cd and the artist are the Total Package! Faith Hill isn't the only talent to come Out of Mississippi! Look out, here's another rising star!!   Pete Love, Author of: On the Scene and Hummer: Flight to Freedom


 

A musical tapestry that enshrines Southern music
Reviewer: Bill Littleton  (Click For Website)
Joni Compretta Out Of Mississippi Westwood International Records The full story is, of course, more complicated, but here's my vote for the legend version: Hurricane Katrina made it prudent for a LOT of families to go somewhere else, and one family said, "Well, let's go to Nashville and see what Joni can do with her music." And they did, hence: "Out Of Mississippi." And what Joni has done so far with her music is quite impressive. She and producer Lonnie Ratliff have honored the texture of her voice (which is hauntingly reminiscent of Teresa Brewer) by assembling songs and musicians that showcase her range and influences. The interweavings of country, pop, and R&B remind me of our rides through the Carolina countryside, listening to Ralph Emery when the static cleared and to John R. when it didn't. And please note our word "interweavings" -- this is not a collection of songs that jump here and there; it's a musical tapestry that enshrines Southern music and the moods and tempos of the American experience. The songs are solid -- some more familiar than others -- the musicianship is impeccable, and the singing is fresh and communicative, including the background vocals of Christy Cornelius and Marcia Ramirez.