“Welcome to my recording session,” Rosie Flores says in introducing Single Rose, her second live CD. It’s a lively, intimate recording that serves as a career overview, with selections from her seven previous albums complemented by a handful of new songs.
Available only through her website, Single Rose marks a new phase in Flores’ career. It’s her first all-acoustic album and is the initial release on Durango Rose Records, her own label.
Recorded at the Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville, the album has the feel of a house concert as Flores turns the club into an oversized living room. She takes advantage of the unplugged format to display her talents as an acoustic guitarist.
Her fingerpicking brings out the bluesy despair of Butch Hancock’s “Boxcars”. “Daddy’s Lullaby” is a reflective song, dealing with the deaths of Oscar Flores, her father, and Donald Lindley, her drummer. Flores teams up with fiddler Tammy Rogers for the wistful “Bandera Highway”, inspired by a return to her native San Antonio.
She lightens the mood with “Palomino Days”, a nostalgic reminiscence about performing at the legendary Los Angeles club (complete with name-checks of Dwight and Lucinda). “’59 Tweedle Dee” is a driving slice of rockabilly that demonstrates power without amplification.
Dance Hall Dreams, her 1999 live album, paired Flores with a full band. Single Rose is a satisfying bookend on the other side of her artistry.
—
