"Into Blue skirts the darker edges of Americana and flirts with Indie Noir."
REVIEWS of the Into Blue EP:
A stunning array of lyrics that express the emotion of these songs, Stray is a natural with words keeping it simple but still equally heartfelt particularly on tracks such as Forgive And Forget where this shines bright.The melodies back up her ability with ease.. Guitars on tracks such as Into Blue bring the Americana vibes and the Jazz influences on tracks such as Little Word give this song a nice energy, making for a highlight of the record. Into Blue is an EP that continues to highlight the talent of Stray who continues to show just how good she is, following on from album Vacancy.....Highlights for me are Little Word and title track Into Blue. ---Thinking Lyrically
This EP has a chill western vibe to it that flows like water. Into Blue is a relaxing and refreshing EP. Although all the songs are awesome on the album my favorite is Forgive and Forget.--Sister Dorothy's Music Blog
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REVIEWS OF the CD "VACANCY":
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Yet again an interesting album cover drew me straight to the CD. ..All of the songs are little stories with a beginning, middle and an end evoking pictures of scoundrels, dusty roads, run-down motels and strange people inhabiting strange bars in strange towns. "You Shot Me" is full of atomospheric slide and semi-acoustic guitar fills and a piano straight out of a Spaghetti Western ......a song so powerful, it left me choked up. Andrea's words and phrasings are as good as anything else I've heard this year.
Alan Harris Maverick Magazine UK
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Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, Vacancy is smooth and refreshing. Stray is backed by some heavyweights here...Tim Grogan, Coleman Murphy, Mike Waldron, Rod Lewis, and David Henry all provide the solid backbone in these tunes. Vacancy was recorded mainly live with only a few overdubs added afterward...which may explain why these songs sound so natural and flow so well. Andrea's got a great voice and she comes up with some extremely strong melodies and lyrics. Ten gutsy, tasty cuts including "Vacancy," "Desert Rain," "Nothing New," and "Tastes Like A Heartache." -- Baby Sue Magazine
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"The front photo sums up the tone of this disc. For the record the photo was done by Ms. Stray one day in Tucson as she just happened by, and the clouds were right. She is an excellent photographer as many of the other photos are hers. The photo is dark and stark, reminiscent of the murky western films such as El Topo or early Clint Eastwood westerns; that is at times stark and at times lush with sound..... There is no getting around it, but the sound,- make that the feel of the disc is very much like Lucinda Williams or the Cowboy Junkies, so there will be comparisons, and you might throw in Charles Bukowski and maybe even Edgar Allan Poe. This is a disc that will sit well with fans of Lucinda, as Andrea too has a definite and delicate touch with the writing of her songs.
There are ten songs on the disc and Andrea wrote all of them. She handled the production duties as well, though co-producers Bobby Holland and Tim Grogan assisted her.. .. A wonderfully moody and atmospheric disc that shows off Andrea Stray's many talents."
--Folk and Acoustic Magazine
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"...An all original set of quality tunes, well told tales of heartache and damaged souls set against a back-drop of small town bars
and jukebox nights, highlights for me Desert Rain, Whiskey Lie, You Shot Me and the title track Vacancy, one of those albums
for the highways and byways it travels well..." --Beat Surrender
Vacancy made #28 on the charts on KDHX
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