Music
Press
Take a listen to Right This Minute and you will find that you have become an instant fan or Tamara Hey. Quirky, fun and sad songs mixed together make this an album with a little bit of something for everyone. Tamara's style is a touch on the Country side, but she has more of a Pop styling than anything else. She has wrapped her vocals in some excellent music provided by very talented performers. - BVS Reviews
Review by Jon Berger:
Tamara Hey has been performing in New York for years. She's been a regular of the acoustic clubs on and off for the last two decades, playing the lamented Fast Folk Cafe and The Bottom Line. Her songs have always been literate and incredibly well constructed.
The brand spanking new Right This Minute clocks in at just over 35 minutes, is great to hear, think about and sing along to. Hey is rightfully proud of this release, saying these are her "finest songs to date." That might disservice her back catalog, but these 10 songs pack quite a wallop.
The one-two punch of the title track and "Up In the Air" tells tales of relationships in transition. The chorus of "Right This Minute" says it all, with "I don't need you to come home right this minute...but in case there's any doubt, I wish you would".
Hey has an excellent voice and good musicians recording with her, but her lyrics are what make her stand out. She's a thoughtful and intelligent storyteller. Her songs resonate like classic country fare, but this ain't country, it's pop, smart pop.
All talk of lyrics (and) storytelling...would be irrelevant if the songs didn't move. While the words are clearly paramount here, Hey's voice and melodies bear up after repeated listens.
"When I listen to the songs on the new record," says Hey, "I find myself singing along with the background vocals, which is exactly what I do when I listen to any of my all-time favorite recordings."
"Girl Talk" and "Up In the Air" will make you want to sing along...."Under for Good," and "Rainy Rainy Cloud," two of four collaborations in the set, may well come back and haunt you days after hearing them.
Right This Minute is a strong collection of very good songs....get the album...right this minute. - Boog City, NYC
Review by Lynda Dale MacLean:
Tamara Hey has a pretty voice; it’s airy and whimsical. But it’s Tamara’s outstanding contribution as a lyricist whose songs on “Right This Minute” are wonderful stories for the heart to embrace and sing a long to.
“Right This Minute”, “Up In The Air”(Tamara’s voice really shines in this song), “Sunflower”, “More Like Melanie” “Girl Talk” and “ In The Universe With Me” are stunning examples of Tamara’s songwriting skills.
“Right This Minute” is the right time to warmly welcome in Tamara Hey’s new album. - Celebrity Cafe
This is a great album that one can enjoy over and over again. It's even better live!
-- Wilson Au, album purchaser and gig attendee - CD Baby
Great singing, songwriting, and production all over the place. The title song features Tamara's beautiful voice set against a gently-placed distortion guitar (kudos, Art!) in an otherwise clean rock setting. I like it -- really smears the sound nicely into the dreamy atmosphere of the lyric. Rainy, Rainy Cloud has a little Beatley feel to the production values. Tamara's music setting is a wonderful support to the lyric with its back-and-forth flow between major and minor. Sunflower: kudos to John Hebert for an outstanding performance on acoustic bass -- really makes the song! And Tamara's multi-talented husband Henry adds real excellence to the CD with his lush string quartet setting for More Like Melanie. Bottom line: all 10 songs are well-written and well-produced. Tamara's singing and songwriting really shines here. Worth every penny!
- John S, record purchaser - CD Baby Review
Tamara Hey is a true pop craftswoman who manages to compose unique yet classically timeless songs. She easily charms the toe-tapping listener with smiles, tears, winks and gasps. "Right This Minute" is an exquisite album sounding all across the spectrum, one moment featuring rakish electric guitar and the next moment a tender, subdued string quartet. Buy this album right this minute and it won't leave your turntable for a very long time.
-- Kathy Zimmer, singer songwriter - CD Baby Review
Tamara Hey is a songwriter at the top of her craft. Her voice draws you right in, and the arrangements bring out the best in each song. One of my favorite albums!
-- Gene, album purchaser and gig attendee - CD Baby Review
Beautifully crafted songs that get better and better with each listen. I can't wait to see her and the band perform live.
-- John C - CD Baby Review
Tamara Hey writes songs that align talent, heart & soul up with a natural, unaffected quirkiness & originality (and a gentle surprise quotient on every song). She does it in a way that doesn't hit you over the head---instead the songs just work their way into some corner of your brain for good. Her songs are different, yet accessible, catchy and often lighthearted yet deep (but you can still touch bottom). She's one of NYC's little treasures. Don't go for the "F" word with her (Folk) cause that's not what she's really about. Go for the big "O"---for Original.
- Don Rosler - CD Baby
Discography
Right This Minute (Sunsound Records)
A Little Space Left (Sunsound Records)
Fast Folk Musical Magazine Compilations: #804, 807, 809
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Born and raised in New York City, a town bursting with aspiring singer-songwriters, Tamara Hey stands out as a writer’s writer and “breath of fresh air”.
With her second independent release, “Right This Minute” (2005), Tamara and Producer/Arranger, Art Hays accomplished many of their musical goals. Both are fans of songs that make you want to sing along regardless of the style, mood or tempo.
Clearly, “Right This Minute” is a collection of Tamara’s “finest songs to date” and features some of New York City’s most respected musicians. It’s a “who’s who of drummers”, including Shawn Pelton, Dan Rieser and Brian Delaney. With Art Hays on electric guitar/electric bass, Henry Hey at the piano and keyboard, John Hebert on acoustic bass and last but not least – YES, that is a real live string quartet on “More Like Melanie” -- arranged and conducted by Henry Hey -- the record is just "joy ride".
As always, Tamara’s lyrics really let you in. You never know what she’s going to do to you: make you smile, laugh or cry. The title cut is “just friggin’ excellent…great love song…real and sad that piles up into the promise of a happy ending.” Often referred to as “meticulous”, a Tamara Hey lyric is so emotionally complete it’s difficult to imagine it any other way, yet she has left room for interpretation. As one reviewer said, “Tamara’s lyrics are “smart but never settle for mere cleverness”. On “Right This Minute”, whatever the subject matter may be, "the bottom line is...it's fun!"
Links
