Patricia Vonne - Worth It

Austin-based Patricia Vonne is better known in some parts for her acting ; she had a part in ‘Spy Kids’ and played Dallas in ‘Sin City’ and she has also had some of her songs featured in other films. This is Patricia’s fourth album and although it’s very much in the vein of what we would expect from her by now and there are no real surprises, Patricia can’t be faulted over the eleven songs on ‘Worth It’, all of which she co-wrote. Leading off with the recently released single, taster for the album and title track, ‘Worth It’, is typical Vonne. Patricia’s powerful, sultry vocals dominate the song as do the Spaghetti Western type guitars which obviously are all over this album. Written for a friend who was fighting addiction it’s an excellent choice for kicking off the album and has all the hallmarks of being a future favourite of Vonne’s fans. ‘Cut From the Same Cloth’ follows and is a co-write with Rosie Flores who along with Joe Ely and Robert LaRoche joins in on backing vocals on this track. It shows a more bluesy influence in Patricia’s work and one that, even though her work is already a combination of various styles that not so many artists are capable of making such a success out of, maybe she should follow a little more on future albums as the song is a highlight on this CD. There are a couple of Spanish language songs on ‘Worth It’ which work well even for those of us who don’t understand a word of what Patricia is singing. The first, ‘Fuente Vaqueros’ which lends gothic touches to Vonne’s brand of flamenco/ rock is a frantic rush of a sound that you really have trouble keeping still to. Things slow down a little for the following song. ‘Truth Awakening’, one of the Tejano ballads that Vonne is known for. She, however, loses none of the power or passion in her vocals when the tempo is taken at a slower pace for these songs ; in fact Vonne’s vocals reveal even more power and emotion on the slower songs, even those in Spanish. Vonne’s vocals, powerful as they are, never lose sight of the song, where others might shout to try to display how powerful their vocals are Vonne never does. On the rockier songs like ‘Cowskulls And Ghostowns’ Vonne, while displaying a remarkable amount of fiery passion in her vocals, never once resorts to shouting out the words. The talented singer then shows a much sweeter side to her vocals on the very next song, ‘Love Is a Bounty’ which shows Vonne’s country leanings in a blues framework. Vonne follows that song with another Spanish language song, ‘La Lomita De Santa Cruz’, which is just her vocals and Robert La Roche’s electric and acoustic guitars (which although outstanding throughout the album are simply stunning on this track). The fact the she adds a haunting quality to the song that wasn’t apparent in any of the preceding songs is another surprise and shows yet another side to her talents. ‘Worth It’ is 33 all -too -short minutes of roots rock where Patricia Vonne mixes in flamenco, country and blues to make the album stand out from the pile. Patricia Vonne is making a good case with this album to be Queen of this particular genre.

Track Listing:-

1 Worth It
2 Cut From The Same Cloth
3 Fuente Vaqueros
4 Truth Awakening
5 Castle Walls
6 El Marinero Y La Sirena
7 Cowskulls And Ghostowns
8 Love Is A Bounty
9 La Lomita De Santa Cruz
10 Gin And Platonic