Leslie Avril enjoys the respect and support of some of the best singers, songwriters and record producers in Australia, such as Ross Wilson and Greg Macainsh.
'During my long association with Leslie Avril, I have come to know her as a talented singer, performer and songwriter with a passion for Australian music, country in particular.
Her strong, smoky voice gives a bluesy tilt to her vocal interpretations that is unique in this country and has earned the admiration of her peers.'
ROSS WILSON
Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock
'I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Leslie for many years. Leslie is one of the great voices of Australian music.
Voices of her calibre are a rarity in this country and this is evidenced by the enthusiasm and acceptance she receives from her audiences.'
GREG MACAINSH
Skyhooks
Country Music Roundup
Raw, raucous and downright raunchy, Leslie Avril's third offering is definitely her best. She has successfully transferred the energy from her live shows to the recording studio.
Aussie Post
Leslie Avril is a legendary singer with a sultry voice and she hails from Melbourne. She has managed to capture the atmosphere of a rocking honky tonk on this great CD.
Capital News
From the raunchy opening title track through to the closer, I'd Rather Stay Home, Leslie Avril delivers the goods.
This girl's got one of the gutsiest voices around, a genuine honesty and a feel for a great song. An excellent example is Tangled Up In Love, which she has made her own.
It's mission impossible to name standout tracks. Fatter Than Texas, is another of those great women's anthems to join the crop of '90s classics like Big Girls (Beccy Cole) and Deana Carter's Did I Shave My Legs For This.
How can you fault musicianship that complements the artist's vocals rather than trying to overpower them?
Beat Magazine
Cowboy In My Bed is a little stunner. You get maudlin ballads, good maudlin ballads like Love Won't Come and the almost high and lonesome I'd Rather Stay Home.
But there's humour, too. The raunch and wit of There's A Guy Works Down The Chipshop Swears He's Elvis is one of the most appealing tracks. Nice steel guitar floating around the groove, too. Must mention the bar-room opener, the title song. It bites like a surly Doberman.
Art Streams
Rubenesque Leslie Avril has produced an excellent album full of humour, pathos and feel-good, toe-tapping, singalong/dance music.
Avril's voice, as much bluesy-rock as country, is capable of interesting complexity. It can be raunchy, gutsy and sensitive. The title track is a great example of crossover country beat, humour and mass appeal.
Here is a woman who is obviously highly respected in the music industry, by the company she keeps: Ross Wilson, Greg Macainsh, Russell Morris, Greg Champion, to name a few.
Country Update
Leslie Avril has developed a reputation for delivering her country music with passion and drive, the result being a gutsy sound which isn't readily found among Aussie female country singers.
She manages to put the same energy from her live performances into her studio work. What you hear on her albums you can expect to hear at her gigs.
Cowboy In My Bed is a healthy mix of slow numbers, a few with distinct blues influence, and a good number of up-tempo songs which will get the party firing.
The Age
The intimate feel of a small club, a voice laced with vinegar, and a band (including ex-Dingoes guitarist Kerryn Tolhurst) as hot as a blowtorch just about sum up Leslie Avril's second album.
Avril's world-weary tone truly triumphs on the classic weeper He Thinks I Still Care. But it also tells a chilling story. Carnival Of Souls is a masterpiece, right from the opening, shimmering guitar licks.
The rockabilly of Brenda Lee's Sweet Nuthins and in particular the powerhouse flair of Rockabilly Woman show another attractive side of Leslie Avril.
Inpress
Ms Avril justifiably believes her day will come. Why else would an album contain her own tunes Superwoman and Firewoman and Ross Wilson's Rockabilly Woman. For variety there's Chris Wall's Trashy Women and the Leiber-Stoller tune I'm A Woman.
Avril is also a fine interpreter. Her cuts of Oklahoma oriole Becky Hobbs' Cowgirl's Heart and the Jim Weatherley-Bob McDill tune Tangled Up In Love have an evocative appeal. And Billy Came Back, a World War One vignette about a devastated Diamond Creek digger, is drenched in plentiful pathos.
The finale also works: Leslie cleanses the sinfulness of Trashy Women with Randy Newman's epic Guilty.
Western Herald
Now this is a lady with one heck of a future in front of her, in possession of vocals that range between angelic and someone who's chain-smoked for 20 years.
Leslie Avril is at her very best though when she's in control of laidback heartfelt ballads. Classic examples of this are Billy Came Back, Carnival Of Souls and the very Australian Desert Sky.
She can turn her hand to some smoky blues too as evidenced on the classic Guilty. Leslie Avril is a rising star set to shine bright and long.
Country Update
Leslie Avril has one of the more unique voices in Australian country music.
Leslie sings with a passion that can make you believe she has travelled a long, hard road. When she sings the housewives' anthem I'm A Woman or Trashy Women she lets you know that she's not to be messed with.
Rarely do I prefer live recordings to studio recordings, but in Leslie's case "live" is great.
Country Music Roundup
Melbourne's Leslie Avril, the toast of the Tudor Hotel during each Tamworth festival, is right in her element here -- and that's live.
Her full-throated vocals are renowned in country music circles and this album features 16 favourites.
The album was released independently but subsequently snapped up by Larrikin. Hear it and you'll know why.
