Downloads

Click here to download a poster.

Click here to download the Lisa Mills bio.

Reviews

Lisa Mills is blessed. Blessed, that is, with a vocal abilities that seem to encompass and embody every cliché ever applied to a gruff, gargle-with-broken-glass yet velvety-smooth voice. It’s a remarkable instrument indeed, and she employs it magnificently on Tempered In Fire, her natural melisma and southern drawl at times reminiscent of Lucinda Williams, while elsewhere she exudes the fiery passion and gritty intensity of the late, great Otis Redding.
–John Taylor, BLINDED BY SOUND (December 30, 2011)

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love female blues singers. I even wrote a book about them! So, discovering Lisa Mills’ Tempered in Fire was like discovering buried treasure for me. Mills has a real blues voice. She has been described as “a full-throated female Otis Redding,” and I can see that. To me, she has the passion and emotion of Etta James or Bonnie Raitt, with a slightly ragged voice perfect for the blues. At times, her voice reminds me of Bonnie Tyler or Sheryl Crow.

– Rhetta Akamatsu, BC PREMIUM (December 14, 2011)

“All in all, “Tempered in Fire” is the best surprise disc I have uncovered in many years. It is a stellar performance by a singer I certainly hope to hear a lot more of, and backed by a lean and mean band who knows how far to push and when to lay back. This one will be playing in my car for a long, long time.”
- Mike Hyland, SONOMA VALLEY SUN (Nov 17, 2011)

While her voice is full of power and the band is slick as greased lightening, most of the tempos are slow to middling, which means this set is for sitting back and absorbing a voice you won’t believe you haven’t heard before, and a band you hope you’ll hear again.”
- By Wesley Britton, BLOGCRITICS.ORG, Seattle PI (Post Intelligencer online) (Nov 14, 2011)

“Tempered in Fire, is one of the best CDs to land on my desk in a while, a set of songs reared in gospel, saturated in the blues and sprinkled with rock.”
- Jim Clark, Lee County Courier-Tupelo, Mississippi (Dec 01, 2011)

” I pulled a heart attack while listening to this disc, it would’ve required the skills of a half-dozen surgeons to get the grin of pleasure off my face… I suggest you grab this smokin’ disc.
- Mark S Tucker, FAME review for Folk Music Exchange (Nov 21, 2011)

“LISA MILLS/Tempered in Fire: This album answers the question of what Bonnie Raitt would have sounded like if she hadn’t gone into a pop vein after her third album…Everything you ever loved about Muscle Shoals and blue eyed soul is here on proud display. A great time throughout. ”
– Chris Spector, MIDWEST RECORD – CHICAGO, IL (Nov 13, 2011)

“With her unique vocal ability to make one feel the good times and bad times in every song, Lisa Mills may elicit comparisons to Lucinda Williams or Delbert. With “Tempered In Fire,” she has the chops to achieve breakout success! ”
– Sheryl and Don Crow, Nashville Blues Society (Nov 14, 2011)

“A frequent visitor to our shores for about the last decade, Lisa Mills, the Southern belle from Mobile, Alabama, with a quite stunning voice, comes over on “Tempered In Fire”‘ like a full-throated female Otis Redding, with some Muscle Shoals soul and Nashville country touches for good measure, in the company of a great band, including her long-time associate Ian Jennings, who plays bass and co-produced the album; and the supremely talented Andy Fairweather Low on guitar.”
Graham Rhodes, Blues in the Northwest (2010)

“Mill’s last full studio album, 2005’s “I’m Changing” arguably was the best local album released that year. “Tempered in Fire” proves that Mills was just clearing her throat. ”
- Lawrence F. Specker, The Press-Register (Mar 25, 2010)

“It may sound exaggerated but this is a voice that bears comparison with any blues and soul singer from any era…Not only can Lisa sing but she’s a born entertainer…There was a reference to one song being written in Kidderminster, which made me wonder what would happen of one resident of that town (or thereabouts) did the same with this lady as he did with Allison Kraus? Robert Plant and Lisa Mills would certainly be a collaboration to savour.”
- Dave Woodhall, “Birmingham Post” (Jul 21, 2011)

“These dynamic and inspiring performances help prove that Lisa Mills is the real deal; no studio tricks needed, no airbrushing required.”
Wade Wellborn, Currents Magazine.

“Nothing sounds borrowed. I haven’t heard an album this year by an artist who asserted his or her individuality more fearlessly.”
- Lawrence F. Specker, The Press-Register

“Lisa’s guitar playing is reassuringly functional, sometimes, surprisingly lyrical, always true to its roots in Southern Soul, blues and gospel. It’s the voice you come to hear, though — moving from a whisper of vulnerability to a harshly defiant rasp, coupled to masterful on-off-mike technique, and with a scary range… add to that real writing skills, and Lisa’s a force to be reckoned with.”
-Celf Cambria Arts