27 October 2022

Husband and wife Jerry Careaga and Stephanie Gladhart have been writing songs together for two decades now, but Deluge of Hurt marks their debut as Tornado Sky, a project that came to be in part thanks to the Covid pandemic that shut down the world.

Careaga’s songwriting credits go back to the early 1980s having written for a slew of artists across different genres over time, while Gladhart focused more on longform writing, while still collaborating with her husband from time to time. But the global pandemic forced just about everyone into a two- year isolation that led to the duo combining efforts and finally collaborating on their own project, christened Tornado Sky. The result of their efforts is a deeply personal album that dips in and out of genres, like Americana, folk and snatches of light pop here and there. Aptly titled, there are some dark sentiments throughout, with “Walking Next to Me” being a prime example with Gladhart singing about losing her brother to cancer and her father dealing with dementia. But it’s not all loss and heartache. Careaga sings about that feeling of pure love for someone on “Damn You.” Regardless of the subject, deep, relatable emotions are at the core of every song the duo writes.

Their band is fleshed out by a collection of stellar musicians for hire including drummer Aaron Sterling (Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Harry Styles), guitarist Dave Levita (Alanis Morissette, Katy Perry, Tim McGraw) Death cab For Cutie’s keyboardist Zac Rae, among others.

John B. Moore has been covering the seemingly disparate, but surprisingly complimentary genres of Americana and punk rock for the past 20 years.

Blurt/New Noise Magazine/InSite Atlanta/NeuFutur Magazine

twitter @jbmoore00

To Read All of John's Reviews, Click Here