Karen Poston - Real Bad / July 2001

Poston arrived in Austin six years ago from Ohio, as half of a folk duo with an impossible name, but singing harmony with Dale Watson, The Derailers and Ted Roddy transformed her into a more than convincing honky-tonk singer, and songwriter. Hitting the high spots, the credits include Bobby Snell, Terry Kirkendall Boomer Norman, Gurf Morlix, Brad Fordham, Jane Gilman, Kelly Willis Roger Wallace, Ted Roddy and Slaid Cleaves, but producer Jim Stringer never lets anyone get in Poston's way as she sensuously glides through twelve songs, ten of them originals, including Lydia, which Cleaves recorded on Broker Down, plus It Only Hurts For a Little While (which I know as a Jimmy Clanton number) and Liz Anderson's Ride, Ride, Ride, which Ted Ritter recorded. If you're looking to hear the current princess of Austin country, Poston just claimed the tiara.

--John Conquest