Miss Tess Swings and Sways with Natural Aplomb

That Miss Tess is one sassy lady, not the mean woman famously characterized by Donald Trump, but an imposing individual all the same. With a decade of plying her southern, swampy, catchy country and blues roots behind her, her latest effort Baby, We All Know finds her effortlessly incorporating the various strains of her trajectory and emerging with a timeless approach that brings to mind everyone from Bobbie Gentry (“Little Lola”) to Bonnie Raitt (“Do You Want Me Love”) to Patsy Cline (It’s So Easy To Tell”) all in the space of the first five songs. That’s pretty remarkable, but what ‘s even more impressive is how she and her colleagues — a sprawling cast of contributors that includes producer Dan Knobler (Rodney Crowell, Tift Merritt), Co-producer and guitarist Thomas Bryan Eaton, Robin Macmillan, Jake Silver (Lee Fields), Roy Williams, Stefan Zeniuk, Eric Frey, Dominic Billet (Andrew Combs), Kai Welch, John Pahmer, Aaron Shaffer-Haiss, Oliver Craven (The Stray Birds), Maya De Vitry (The Stray Birds) and Caitlin Canty — manage to create a sound that’s both contemporary and timeless as well. More than merely emulating her obvious influences, she effectively situates herself on a pedestal right beside them, resulting in a set of songs that swings, sways, rocks and evokes her own personal perspective. Baby, We All Know is an album that lives up to its title because in effect, it’s an excellent compendium of modern Americana distilled in all its forms. Miss Tess is a sweet seductress, one whose charms are increasingly harder and harder to resist. Catch her while you can.