Wendy Colonna

Courtesy photo

By Billy Keith Bucher

From a gritty and driving song called “Dirty Things” to the soft, yearning lyrics of “A Happy Song,” Wendy Colonna is a gal who seems to be about everywhere these days. Through a different venture, Wendy, who born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was commissioned by the Southwest Louisiana Tourist Bureau to write and produce her own account of growing up in the land of syncopated beats amid the spices of boudin and gumbo to lure visitors to her hometown of Lake Charles. Just as the funky beat of “Dirty Things” hurls you into the world of this woman who just can’t seem to do anything right, Wendy appears to have a certain magical touch to showcase all of her songs. This versatile writer even had a hit from her commissioned song called “My Southwest Louisiana Home” with AdWeek, recorded complete with a pulsing accordion and cajun beat and guaranteed to make you feel like jumping to your feet and just start dancing as if there was a gator chasing you.

At the same time Wendy can pull out a more gentle song like “Girl Without A Name” and change the mood and the flow into a more dreamlike state. In fact, with the release of the highly acclaimed album, Nectar, Wendy tosses out a mixture of song gems so wonderful it is hard to decide which song you like the most. The CD has led to a lot more travel for Wendy around the country and abroad.

Courtesy photo

Said Wendy in a recent telephone interview, “I’m playing solo out of Austin now, but when we book a show in Santa Fe, say, we find it more economical to book a band from the area at the same time. We were in Wyoming recently and we did that there with great results.” She added later that it’s also a really wonderful way to connect to the music community in other places. “I also have a band in Austin that I can rely on to provide me with a good, strong back-up for my songs when I perform in my home base.”

Wendy’s voice is very rich and she can draw one moment on a sense of intensity and then, the next moment, she seems to be able to weave her lyrics into a soulful trance as on the newly released song called “Bring Me Water.” And even Starbucks Coffee has licensed multiple tracks from Nectar, for in-store play across the nation.

A recent performance contained some songs off of her CD “Nectar,” at the Forge in Ben Wheeler, Texas, recently, leaving the audience without doubt that Wendy Colonna will become a regular among the Forge performers as well as expanding herself into even more world-wide notice.

The influences in her songs are as broad as they are haunting.

“Sleeping,” for instance, has a subtle ska beat underneath the words and lyrics and the musicians do a very scant reggae beat which transcends into a rocking dance-like rhythm. The lyrics propel you into hypnotic state of mind.

“Don’t you worry little darling, at the dying of the day. The world is out there waiting, but the night is gone away. So lay down in your feathered bed, and close those sleepy eyes, for I wish you only sweet dreams and I’ll sing this lullaby. We are sleeping, we are sleeping, we are keeping safe and warm. We are sleeping, we are sleeping, we are sleeping through the storm,” written by Mark Addison.

“Dance With the Moon” will keep you keep you looking down at the stars on the boulevard which “are light-years away and they have already died, but I think I’ll just stay here and dance with the moon.” She may pull out the ukulele as on “The Water’s Fine” to give the song just a bit more spice.

When she played at the Forge that night, it almost didn’t happened. She had done two songs when suddenly there was a smell of sulphur in the air and then there was a crack of lightning and the lights of the bistro flickered, followed by a huge boom as the thunder clapped very close-by.

“Well, that might be that,” said Wendy with a laugh. The lights went off and on and when they did there was laughter. Wendy began playing again and everyone was happy.

“So these listening sessions with my dad lead to me using various rhythms such as the bossa nova beat which is on ‘When Love Comes My Way.’” This whole song sounds as if it could have been born in Brazil, down to the touches of Latin percussion which move the song beautifully along like a boat moving down a stream.

Her creativity continued to expand after she moved to Austin in 2000. Her albums, seven to date, have continued to mature with a new sophistication and on Nectar she has hit a new high. Her voice has really continued to develop. Wrote Wendy recently in her autobiography “True Stories,” “Ah, Austin, the only place on earth where hippies, cowboys, intellectuals, politicians, tech geeks, and musicians go beyond Mendel’s wildest imagination. On any given night of the week you can watch rockabilly, thrash, Tejano, jam, blues, funk, outlaw country or singer-songwriters laying it down.”

Wendy’s writing is as haunting as the nights in Natchitoches with its ghosts and graves. Her passion is as striking as the heat of summer afternoons in Texas in “Texas Summer Love.”

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