REVIEWS

"While Ramsay's first album featured Scottish balladry, her second warms to a vintage jazz sound. Her voice is captivating and convincing. The material ranges from bluesy to bawdy. Highlights include the luscious standard "You Don't Know What Love Is" and her own, witty, libido-themed "Lament." --Paul Freeman

"What a delightful surprise to have met the voice of Celia Ramsay! I believed every word she sang, and loved every song she recorded!" --Libby McLaren

"I so very much enjoyed this album. Celia's voice reminds me of Keely Smith. It's clear and clean without a lot of pyrotechnics that can muddy up the music. The original songs are fresh and funny in a 1940s-1950s kind of silliness and shrewdness that I very much appreciated (my favorite of her original tunes is "Lament"). There are a million standards that I'd love to hear Celia sing and can't wait to hear what her imagination comes up with next songwise. BRAVA!" --Claire, CD Baby Reviewer about I'll Just Lie About It

“Lord, lord, lord.  Celia, what an incredible voice you have! The music on this (CD) is just lovely.  I highly recommend this; the tunes and songs are well selected; obviously each song means a great deal to you.” --Ray Edlund, KPFA, about Songs of My Father's People.

"... a singer I’ve not heard before, Celia Ramsay... I’m really impressed by what I’ve heard of this album; she sings with a really very Scottish inflection." --Roland Goodbody, WUNH, about Songs of My Father's People.

"...These are mostly love songs, and Celia has a lovely voice...an interesting collection, sung in a classical style for the most part, with phrasings and inflections from the Scottish dialect.  It's an enjoyable collection." --J.W. McClure, Victory Music, about Songs of My Father's People.

"Do your kisses stir my soul? Do I think you make me whole?  Should I sigh and lose control?" So begins the title track of Celia Ramsay's new release, "I'll Just Lie About It." 

The new album debuts Celia as a songwriter--a new hat to be sure, but one that fits her very well. Some of her songs are pure blues, others are a humorous "Mark Graham meets Ella Fitzgerald" mix. Either way, the album is nicely balanced between dark blue songs and upbeat, sometimes bawdy humor.

DOWNLOAD THIS BIOGRAPHY AS A PDF (downloadable photo bottom of page)

Here's a taste of Celia's CD release event at the Freight and Salvage; five songs from the show:

Celia grew up with a personal passion for the ballads of Scotland. At the same time she was heavily influenced by popular music from the 1930s and 1940s. She likes to point out that the jazz ballads from the mid-century and much older ballads from the British Isles have a lot in common. Both traditions lean heavily on songs about love, and its trials, tribulations and triumphs. 

Celia Ramsay is fast becoming a popular name in the SF Bay Area music scene. She has performed at numerous house concerts, the San Francisco Free Folk Festival, the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, and The Palms Playhouse in Winters. She is also locally known as a Contra Dance Caller--she teaches this New England style folk dance and "calls" or prompts the dancer to live music from Monterey to Ukiah.

DISCOGRAPHY:

January 2011: Songs of My Father's People; Mostly Scottish Songs About Love 

May 2012: I'll Just Lie About It 

If you are interested in Celia and her husband's business, Kent Rasmussen Winery, or the winery's other two labels, Ramsay or Esoterica, you can visit the winery web site at kentrasmussenwinery.com

 (Downloadable photo)

Carolyn Younger, writer for the Napa Valley Register, wrote a very kind, biographical article about me back in 2010 that's worth a read. It does a very nice job of relating my personal history in the Napa Valley, where my family lived until 2012.