​Nicki Bluhm (from the album Rancho Deluxe

​Nicki Bluhm (from the album Rancho Deluxe

​Nicki Bluhm (from the album Rancho Deluxe available as an independent release) (by Brian Rock)
Nicki Bluhm reconciles her past and present on her eighth album Rancho Deluxe. The album is named for Bluhm’s home studio in Nashville yet many of the songs on the album pay tribute to her northern California roots. Nicki Bluhm deftly fuses the musical styles of these two regions, distilling her twenty-year musical journey down to its bare essentials. She focuses on themes of friends, family, and freedom. Addressing these topics, Bluhm sings with the casual confidence of Sheryl Crow and the grace of Emmylou Harris
“Bay Laurel Leaves” introduces Rancho Deluxe with lush, Sam Phillips style Chamber Pop. Orchestral strings and electric organ create an ethereal atmosphere as Bluhm sings ‘I won’t say that I was running, but I just couldn’t stay’. Summing up her frustrations with her musical career in California, she decided to roll the dice with a move to Music City. The triumphant chorus testifies to the success of her move. Singing ‘Tennessee, you found me at my worst and put me back on my feet’ she credits the new environs and the supportive musical community with helping her live her dream. But there is a dreamy, bittersweet air to the melody as Nicki Bluhm sometime dreams ‘that I was back there on that mountain by the sea and breathing in the air of the bay laurel leaves'. Her yearning voice hints at a soul torn between the belonging of the past and the becoming of the present. She is, of course, both, but the song is a beautiful meditation on this period of transition.
Nicki Bluhm then reflects on the journey that led her to this point. “Trying to Survive” is a soulful recounting of her life in California. Making the most of a frustrating situation, she sings ‘livin’ the lows and highs. It might give us hell, but we’ll make it a hell of a time’. But in the Cosmic Cowboy melodies of “Changing the Channel” she discovers that just surviving isn’t enough. She continues the Cosmic Cowboy vibes on “Tumbleweed”. Realizing that ‘every day is just the same as yesterday’, she gets caught in a rut. Contemplating her situation on the tender “Taking Chances” Bluhm moans ‘I’m so tired of taking chances with no advances’. Chasing her musical dream with little to show for it, she confesses ‘I can’t believe I still believe in you’. Unhappy with her circumstances, she finally decides to take a leap of faith on the Fleetwood Mac inspired Pop Rock of “Falling Out of a Dream”. Confronting her fears, she asks ‘what would they say about me if I traded the road for Tennessee?’. Answering her question with a new one, she asks ‘what if everything I wanted all of a sudden appeared?’. Inspired by the prospect of a new beginning, Nicki Bluhm sings herself some Laurel Canyon inspired words of encouragement in “Keep on Growing”. Reminding herself to ‘keep on growing and pray for the sun’, she decides to do what she can and trust the rest to God.
Having committed to taking the next step in her musical journey, her only hesitation is leaving her friends behind. The Dixieland/Soul fusion of “Long Time to Make Old Friends” pays respect to her old friends and offers a hint of optimism for the new friends on the way. The cheery Piedmont Blues of “Cumberland Banks” marks the beginning of those new friendships. Describing a group rafting trip that is surprised by a sudden downpour, the quintessential ‘front porch song’ becomes a metaphor for life. Nicki Bluhm sings ‘let us float down the Cumberland River. Let God determine our fate. Never really knowing if you’re coming or you’re going, but the river’s only flowing one way’. She is releasing the pressure she’s put on her own career as she learns to ‘let go, and let God’. No longer driven to achieve someone else’s vision of success, Nicki Bluhm finally finds peace in The Bangles-inspired Paisley Pop of “Simple Side of Me”. Realizing that some things are more important than fame, she sings ‘friends are always coming through our door - sounds of songs we’ve never heard before. It’s a gallery of faces old and new. A family made of ones we get to choose’. Through her journey, she has shown us that having friends, family, and the freedom to do what you love is the greatest success of all. (by Brian Rock)
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