Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers recently released their latest album, “Wiggle Room,” and has been topping the Roots Music Reports’ national jazzy blues chart and the Washington blues album chart ever since, with all 10 song tracks charting.
The Kirkland-based blues band has been making music together, formally, since 2011 and has released now a total of four albums. D’Amour, the band’s lead singer, has been singing and composing songs since she was 6 years old. Her natural gift continued as she became a published poet in her early 20s. Her “powerhouse” vocals combined with her songwriting skills, drew members together to form Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers.
“Wiggle Room” is the fourth album for the band, but the inaugural release on D’Amour’s record label, BluesKitty Records. It was produced by Washington Blues Society Hall of Fame member and renowned guitarist Mark Riley. The rhythm tracks were recorded at Strange Earth Studios with Grammy-winning engineer Steve Feasley.
When the band learned the album had topped the blues charts, D’Amour said it was a “little surreal” at first.
“It’s something we’ve always hoped for and our previous albums did chart in the past but never like this,” she said. “It was a little surreal when we learned that not only had we topped the charts but were staying at the top.”
Jeff Cornell, the band’s guitarist and one of its newest members, said being in the band has opened him to a lot of new things.
“I used to be more into heavy metal but it’s been so great to be a part of this band because blues contains a lot of the roots that other music comes out of,” he said. “The success this album has had so far has just reinforced that we’re making good music and the longer this lasts, the better it feels.”
Aside from featuring D’Amour’s strong vocals and songwriting and Cornell’s guitar skills, the 10 new tracks showcase drummer Dave Delzotto, while adding the elements of a full-time keyboardist in Brian Olendorf and Noel Barnes on saxophone to the Love Dealers’ sound. The collection is also an expansion of style, pushing beyond the group’s previous catalog of straight-ahead blues, funk and rockin’ soul and delving into jazz, swing, boogie, Latin and touches of country and gospel.
In 2018, Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers received three nominations from Washington Blues Society: best blues album for “Lost Nights at the Leopard Lounge,” their previous album; best blues songwriter: Michele D’Amour; and best bass: Patrick McDanel. The band also reached the 2014 and 2018 finals of The Washington Blues Society’s IBC Challenge and the title song, “Wiggle Room,” recently won a Bronze Medal from Global Music Awards.
The band is in the process of writing and producing another album, but for now, they said they’re enjoying their success and continuing on their Northwest tour through Everett, Bothell and Bellevue. Their next show will be Oct. 27 at Buzz Inn Broadway in Everett.
For more information about Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers visit https://www.micheledamourandthelovedealers.com/.
