★★★★★
Woody Guthrie died in 1967, but his influence on the US music scene is as great as ever. He was an extraordinary songwriter, tackling personal and political themes, but always mixing anger and outrage with optimism and good humour. Although his recording career ended in the late 40s, he kept writing during the years when he was too ill to perform, and his lyrics (though not the intended melodies) have been preserved in the Guthrie archives...
- www.guardian.co.uk
2010-04-02
★★★★★
Solo and with the Story, Brooke has been a showoff and a bit of a priss. But setting unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics to music like the Klezmatics and Billy Bragg & Wilco before her, she blooms. The strophic simplicity of Guthrie's songforms demands direct melodies, and the two self-penned ones she couldn't do without are touched by his cultivated unsophistication. This isn't the Woody whose guitar killed fascists...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-09-19
★★★★★
Jonatha Brooke has been making intimate, well-crafted records for years, but she remains an outsider to super success, her literate folk-pop going mostly unnoticed by the public (if adored by critics). Befitting her Amherst coffeehouse roots, Back in the Circus is stocked with lovingly detailed songs as well as cover versions of other artist's work, Brooke lending her aching soprano to very personal renditions of "God Only Knows," "Fire and Rain" and "Eye in the Sky...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Dropped from the majors last year, pop-folkster Brooke has picked herself up and started her own label. Its inaugural release is a terrific set from Brooke's '98 tour. Covering tunes from her days as half of the coeds-with-mesmerizing-harmonies duo The Story to 1997's sumptuous, catchy 10[cents] Wings, Jonatha Brooke Live showcases Brooke's mournful-edged voice and intimate songs.
- ew.com
2009-06-04
★★★★★
For more than a decade, singer / songwriter Jonatha Brooke has been standing her ground on the music scene, and she is sure to keep her legions of fans satisfied with her latest release Steady Pull. Brooke releases her latest CD on her own record label Bad Dog Records on February 13.
Steady Pull is full of catchy tunes, strong choruses, and interesting melodies that stick in your head...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-21
★★★★★
Much of the press surrounding Jonatha Brooke's The Works trumpets the fact that the veteran folkie is the first woman to peruse the vaults of unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics and build songs around them. But that milestone, like a vice presidential candidacy, isn't worth squat if the musician or politician in question isn't qualified, viable, or in good faith. Happily, Brooke is all of those things, and has been for quite some time...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-20