HOPE WAITS
What’s in a name? Hope Waits has probably heard it all. “What are ya waiting for, Hope?” Imagine having to deal with that kind of teasing when you’re one of 12 kids born to an alcoholic father who regularly failed at putting food on the table.
Just when things were looking a little brighter as Hope turned 21, her mother was murdered. With all this in mind you might expect Hope Waits to be a dark affair; instead it introduces a coy chanteuse who will totally floor you singing the blues, especially when she sings lines like “I stir my brandy with a nail” from “Get Behind the Mule.”
Originally from Monroe, La., Waits flavors her music with a little New Orleans jazz here, a hint of Zydeco there, coming across as the sultriest southern singer to come along since Allison Moorer. Radarproof Records releases Hope Waits on Sept. 18, and you can get your copy autographed when Waits performs at the Hotel Café on Sept. 19.
