He Gave Me a Blue Nightgown

The spare arrangements hark back to the early days of recorded music, when the focus was on the song and the singer. Across these 13 songs, Sunday Wilde covers an array of blues styles, including slow dirty blues, slow sad blues, country blues, a cappella blues, and gospel blues. There are few instrumental solos, and when they occur, they are brief statements that quickly shift attention back to Wilde’s delivery and original material.

“Down the Road Alone,” the first track in the selection, is a slow blues tune capturing the remote sadness of living in the North, with David West adding eerie guitar fills. “Shaken Down” tells the story of a woman deceived by a lover, set to a fast rolling, rocking blues number. “There Was a Time” moves in a 1950s-flavoured city blues style, with Wilde reminiscing on an old love affair and Virgil Denmark’s old-time violin adding a backwoods sound. “I Guess I Didn’t Hear You Right” revisits a much-requested song from Sunday Wilde’s second release, Broken String of Pearls.

The contemplative ballad “No Matter How Far” stands out with a delicate vocal that speaks to long-distance love and the depth of feeling when the one she loves is not around. On “He Thrills Me Up,” Wilde lays down a solid rhythm on piano in tribute to a good loving man, while “Sunday’s Loverman” brings out her sassy side as she makes it clear she is tired of giving without getting anything in return.

With this album, Sunday Wilde shares her distinct vocals and emotionally charged lyrics with seasoned professional musicians who help create the moving pieces on this recording. David West plays instinctively throughout, colouring the songs with riffs drawn from his world knowledge of music and performing on his custom double-sided guitar. Humber graduate and seasoned upright jazz player Rory Slater adds solid jazz flair. The main trio of Sunday, Rory, and David perform on most of the songs, with guest musicians lending their own creativity on others.

Guest musicians include Sunday’s son Dawson Paulson, who plays percussion drum brushes on a vintage metal mailbox, adding a touch of authentic reverb. Virgil Denmark adds violin parts, giving the music an eerie and often classical flair, while Janice Matichuk’s accordion brings a hometown wilderness of Northern Ontario authenticity.

Rennie Frattura, also known as Reno Jack, produced the album along with Tom Shapiro, sound tech from the now defunct Maple Leaf Gardens. Their engineering captured this unique exploration of the blues that Sunday Wilde brought to the table. The project was recorded at a remote hunting and fishing lodge in the wilderness of Northern Ontario on the banks of Banning Lake, at Branch’s Seine River Lodge.

All songs were arranged and written by Sunday Wilde, with the exception of Bessie Smith’s “Blue Spirit Blues,” performed in Sunday’s signature a cappella style using a tin drum and cue ball for effect, as well as the classic “Amazing Grace,” rearranged into a blues structure.

“The spare arrangements hark back to the early days of recorded music when the focus was on the song and the singer.”
Mark Thompson, Blues Blast Magazine

“Sunday Wilde is spice not nice, and not afraid to rub your nose in it. She's like camp coffee gritty strong full bodied eye lid peeling. One belted twangy note and you know its her.”
Pete Jabs, The Walleye

Sunday Wilde’s previous album received international accolades and awards, and continued to receive airplay on roots and blues stations worldwide.