The Progressive Underground Pick of the Week: ‘Take Me As I Am’ by Dames Brown
Dames Brown delivered a long-awaited debut album that blends gospel, soul, house, funk and more into one rich musical gumbo.
Dames Brown is a vocalist trio from Detroit.
This week’s pick comes from the powerhouse vocal trio of Athena Johnson, Teresa Marbury and LaRae Starr, better known as Dames Brown. They’ve delivered a long-awaited debut album that blends gospel, soul, house, funk and more into one rich musical gumbo.
The group was mentored by the late Amp Fiddler, who produced and recorded the project in his home studio in Detroit’s Conant Gardens neighborhood. His spirit runs through this album in a powerful way. But understand something, this is not a record that mourns him. It extends him. You can hear the belief he had in them being realized in real time. What really makes the album soar is the discovery that this is not a group with one lead singer, but three commanding voices coming together as a unit. Let’s check out the title track, “Take Me As I Am.” It’s my Pick of the Week.
That was Dames Brown with “Take Me As I Am,” the title track from their debut album, coming straight out of the Motor City.
If you love music that moves between soul, house, funk and deep dance textures, tune in to The Progressive Underground every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on 101.9 WDET and wdet.org. For The Progressive Underground, I’m Chris Campbell. We’ll see you next time.
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