Sometimes it's a bit too easy to take Santa Fe's local talent for granted. Take the rotating cast of roots music luminaries in town-Joe West, Ben Wright, Lydia Clark, Josh Martin, Margaret Burke, to name but a few. It's an odd little group of different ages, personalities and musical backgrounds, but clearly, conspicuously, deliciously, drenched with talent.
Many of these folks have gotten together to form a lil' ol' gospel group called Bethleham and Eggs, playing Sunday mornings at the Cowgirl, and finally blessed Santa Fe with a CD-entitled
Unscrambled: The Gospel Truth
-worthy of a choir's worth of praise. It's Clark who's the star: Her voice rings as clear and true as a dime dropping in an empty tithing plate, and her arrangements of traditional tunes like "This Little Light of Mine" and "This Train" stay tight and on track, shifting into a more modern feel with quick, smart piano fills and sure vocals.
Another standout track is West's version of "John the Revelator," which in West's hands becomes a sexy, sultry tomcat of a song, reminding us it can't always just be about the Holy Ghost. In lesser hands, a disc like this would be a boring rehash of old standards; but reworked by some of Santa Fe's best talent, it's worth getting out of bed early on a Sunday morning for.
