Annie Mack - Testify (2021)

Annie Mack is best known as a blues singer, and her name appears in the book 50 Women In The Blues alongside artists like Etta James and Mavis Staples. Much like those two legends, the artist we hear on the Testify EP is certainly bluesy at all times, but is also more of a songster, belonging to the “not-quite-this-or-that” genre known as Americana. The swamp-gospel of the title track struts down the aisle like the deaconess board on Sunday morning. The soulful rock of “Get On The Train” evokes the Freedom Train found in Civil Rights sermons, as well as songs like “People Get Ready.” It has a real sense of motion. This undercurrent of hope courses through the rest of the EP, from “Shadows of a Kingdom,” a story of female self-actualization,” to “Judge and Jury,” a sho-nuff outlaw country tune written in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Mack’s hometown of Minneapolis. When Mack sings, “Busy praying for a flood/ So you can drag me through the mud/ So you can hide my humanity/ You’re not the judge and jury of me,” we can dig it. Testify as a whole is a powerful and assured statement from a pro.

1.01 - Annie Mack - Testify (4:36)
1.02 - Annie Mack - Get on the Train (3:43)
1.03 - Annie Mack - Shadows of a Kingdom (3:50)
1.04 - Annie Mack - Judge and Jury (4:29)
1.05 - Annie Mack - Walking Around (4:04)