Personnel: Rosie Flores (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, finger cymbals); Don Henry (acoustic guitar, percussion); Ray Kennedy (12-string guitar, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, drums, tambourine); Cindy Cashdollar (resonator, slide, lap & triple neck steel guitars); Tammy Rogers (mandolin, viola, background vocals); Justin Reinhardt (keyboards); Kevin Smith (acoustic bass); Sarah Brown (electric bass, maracas, background vocals); Donald Lindley (drums, percussion); Siobhan Kennedy, Radney Foster, Eddie Dunbar, Rachel Gladstone (background vocals).
Recorded live at Cibolo Creek Country Club, San Antonio, Texas. Includes liner notes by Jonny Whiteside.
All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.
Personnel: Rosie Flores (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, finger cymbals, background vocals); Tammy Rogers (vocals, mandolin, viola, background vocals); Sarah Brown (vocals, electric bass, maracas); Radney Foster (vocals); Don Henry (acoustic guitar, percussion); Justin Reinhardt (keyboards); Donald Lindley (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Cibolo Creek Country Club, San Antonio, TX; Room & Board Studios, Nashville, TN.
Rosie Flores is a contender for the title of Queen of the Honky-Tonks. Flores was in one of the first country-punk bands, the all-female Screamin' Sirens, before striking out on her own. She carries on in the California honky-tonk tradition as exemplified by two of her biggest influences: Wanda Jackson and Rose Maddox. DANCE HALL DREAMS has a lot of variety, however. Note the winsome charmer "Who's Gonna Fix It Now," a Beatles-tinged pop-rocker, and the reflective "From Where I Stand." The rollicking album-opener "Little Bit More" has the honky-tonkin' snap that will set you to dancing. Her voice is perky, tart and is not unlike Loretta Lynn's might be if Lynn were a rock & roll/rockabilly singer. Her band is sharp, crisp and understated-emphasizing the song, not slickness or empty flash. Rosie Flores is the real deal, with plenty of heart and no artificial additives.
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (3/19/99, p.107) - "...imagine Wanda Jackson jamming with Dwight Yoakam in San Antonio....a dozen years into her solo career, she finally finds the right mix of alternative and mainstream country, boogie, blues, and Cal-Tex attitude." - Rating: B+
Q (7/99, p.115) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...she sounds more than ever like the very person to successfully adapt Lone Star State dance hall swing into the modern era....This girl has the whole package. Just add airplay and she'll get the stardom she deserves."
Dirty Linen (6-7/99, p.89) - "...These songs bounce, scoot, slide and waltz across any hardwood floor, and they do it with real human passion and compassion....provides a solid foundation for Flore's vocal hustle."
