Alisa Cameron – Seasons

Alisa Cameron
Seasons
Independent Release 2008
www.alisacameron.com

Gospel vocalist Alisa Cameron of Racine, Wisconsin, a metropolitan area just south of Milwaukee, has garnered sufficient praise over the years to have gone from a member of her family group, Bro. Williams and the Jones Sisters, to singing on the Bobby Jones television program. Recently, she shared the stage with BET Sunday Best’s top two, Stellar Award-winning singers Crystal Aikin and Shari Addison.

Cameron’s debut album, Seasons, features buoyant praise songs, hymns of struggle and hope, and traditional-style pieces, all of them written by the singer herself. Seasons benefits from solid production courtesy of Derrick Horne, bright songs, polished background vocalists, and Cameron’s commanding voice.

Contemporary cuts such as “Thank You” are enjoyable listening, and “Victory” features an extraordinary talented male background vocal group, but it is on the traditional pieces where Cameron seems most comfortable and lets loose. The album’s second single, “At the Name of Jesus,” sounds like an old congregational song. “Why Would You Do It for Me” features a bluesy extended vamp. It would be great to hear an entire album of traditional and neo-traditional songs led by Cameron and her vocalists.

The title track and first single from the project is a contemporary gospel ballad inspired by Cameron’s mother, who taught the singer that people go through seasons in their lives, some good and others not-so-much. Cameron reminds listeners to be encouraged because “seasons come and seasons go.” From the sound of it, Alisa Cameron is in the midst of a good one.

Three of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Why Would You Do It for Me,” “At the Name of Jesus.”