The voice from the speakers gets into your head very quickly, as if she knows just how you've felt dozens of times in many situations, and with her impassioned delivery, it's not long until she's gotten into your heart as well.

De Lisle writes most of her own material, and it's anything but disposable. She grabs your attention, she keeps you from being bored by changing motifs from song to song, the landscapes she paints can be vivid and a little disturbing. Never quite perfect, because love never is.

"You're drownin' in that polyester vest
and plastic yellow shoes
Now I shove nineteen years of nerve into this dress
And I'm only twenty-two
And you might think I'm crazy
Depends on who you been talkin' to
It's been ferris wheels and freakshows
since I met you"

While "Ferris Wheels And Freakshows" is likely to please fans and fans to be, the song with the best chance to put De Lisle on "the map" is "Beautiful Mistake," a number that harkens back to the great country hits of the late 60s and early 70s. What that means, most likely, is that the fake-country crowd simply will not get it, while fans nostalgic for the authentic sounds of country music will fall instantly in love. Now the whole battle is making sure those people get to hear her. De Lisle and company have certainly prepared a sweet album with all the fixings for them.

Marvin Etzioni's production plays a major role in De Lisle's album, Home Wrecker. The entire album passes through your consciousness like a dream, often so beautiful you ache, sometimes so unsettling you stir uncomfortably (as you do during the conclusion of "Ferris Wheels and Freakshows," which also happens to be the conclusion of the album). Etzioni, once the bass player for Lone Justice, produced from his roots on the title track,, which could have been as big a hit as the tragically under-appreciated Lone Justice was ever able to generate. It stomps, rolls, pounds, and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) gets to go honky-tonkin' for a bit. Other guests on Home Wrecker include Rami Jaffee (Wallflowers), pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz (k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Sheryl Crow), and string arranger Jerry Yester (Tom Waits, Tim Buckley), along with De Lisle's husband and Old 97s bassist, Murry Hammond.

Listening to Grey De Lisle's voice change from song to song is an impressive thing. It's always De Lisle, but she has no problem sounding sweet as honey one moment, raspy and dangerous the next, angelic the next and possibly even fatalistic and used up the next. Her songwriting skills, which she began honing at age 5, are part of this, because the stories set the table for the performances, but there's more. There's a vocal skill not all singers share.

You've probably even heard her before, but not in places you'd expect to hear a country siren of such exquisite talent. Grey De Lisle is a very successful voice actor, primarily in the cartoon industry. If you have children who are cartoon junkies (or if that's just your excuse for watching them), you'll be surprised to learn that she is the voice of the not-so-nice Vicky on The Fairly Oddparents, Cindy Bear on Yogi & Company, Major Dr Ghastly on Evil Con Carne and about close to 170 others. If you'd like to take a look, you'll find a list at The Voice Actor Page.

With one highly successful career well underway and all the chops - and, to be honest, the beauty - for a second career before her, Grey De Lisle can only wait and see if talent is once again rewarded. The theme of what may be her best song is "The most beautiful mistake I ever got to make was you," a classic country sentiment if ever there was one, but there's no mistake when it comes to recognizing Grey De Lisle as the real deal.


Click here to check out Grey De Lisle's CD at Miles Of Music.com.

(C) 2002 - DJ Johnson