Entertainment Weekly (10/16/98, p.89) - "...While her own songs buck and buzz, they pale next to her covers of tunes by beer-room masters like Merle Haggard and Tommy Collins. Leigh may be more than a novelty, but she's still mostly Dwight Lite." - Rating: B
Personnel: Danni Leigh (vocals); Mike Noble (acoustic guitar, mandola, harmonica); Richard Bennett (acoustic & electric guitars); Dale Oliver, Brent Mason (electric guitar); Steve Hinson (steel guitar, dobro); Tammy Rogers, Glen Duncan (fiddle); The Nashville String Machine (strings); Mike Henderson (harmonica); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Larry Marrs (electric & acoustic basses, background vocals); Chad Cromwell (drums); Neil Thrasher (background vocals).
Principally recorded at Javelina Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.
Those eager to pigeonhole Leigh have called her "the female Dwight Yoakam," but that's not entirely accurate. Yes, she wears a cowboy hat and has a passion for classic country, but that's where the comparisons end. Her debut is no Dwight lite--Leigh has her own take on traditional country, and it's her voice that makes it stand out. She's got a gutsy delivery and a slightly lower range than most female artists, and it works best on uptempo honky-tonk numbers like "If the Jukebox Took Teardrops," "Beatin' My Head Against the Wall" and a Merle Haggard/Tommy Collins song, "Mixed Up Mess Of A Heart."
Leigh's performances on the shuffling "I Feel A Heartache" and the 1962 Willie Nelson hit "Touch Me" are so uncannily authentic they wouldn't sound out of place if they were transported back to 1957 and spun after Patsy Cline's latest single. Leigh is also a fine songwriter, co-writing seven of the 11 tracks here. Fans who prefer their country music straight up with no pop overtones will enjoy 29 NIGHTS, an assured debut that hints at even better things to come from a singer with a unique artistic vision.
