Come to the River

Terry Evans' CDs can usually be found in the blues bins, but Come to the River is an album that has as much to do with R&B and black gospel as it does with the 12-bar format. A moving, earthy singer who sounds like he's spent a lot of time around black church choirs, Evans has a deep, booming voice that serves him impressively well, whether he's tearing into the Willie Dixon classics "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "My Babe" or treating us to gospel-drenched soul singing on the title song and the ballad "Please No More." Evans' approach to R&B shows no awareness of urban contemporary -- he obviously prefers the great Southern soul music of the 1960s and has become an expert in that area himself. From Chicago blues to Memphis R&B, Evans has clearly done his homework.