Wanda Johnson - Slow Down (2019)

Put simply, Wanda Johnson is the best blues singer that South Carolina has to offer. She can handle a slow-burning ballad with elegance, and then throw some fiery grit into an uptempo rocker. But the key to her brilliance is understatement. She’s never been the cliched blues woman onstage, over-singing or falling to her knees in dramatic anguish. She prefers to let her voice do the emoting, either on classics by Etta James (her version of “At Last” is damn near as definitive as James’) or Sarah Vaughan. Sure, she’s capable of gospel-style passion and jazz-style control, but she’s not one to indulge in theatrics. With those skills in her toolbox, it’s no wonder that she’s commonly known as “South Carolina’s First Lady Of Rhythm & Blues”.