"As the daughter of a minister and a piano player, Amber Cross’s album, Savage on the Downhill, has the unadorned ferocity of a New England preacher and the straightforward clap of an upright. Her style is plain country that’s indebted more to Loretta Lynn and the old southeast open-throated country singers like Roy Acuff, than the slip note heritage of Lefty Frizzell. So austere is the instrumentation, in fact, that the songs themselves need to shine. And shine they do. Like gold flecks in a creek catching your eye Ms. Cross’s songs are the glittering and hard scrabble vignettes of country people living their lives. They call to mind the roughhewn, yet tender songs of Jim Ringer and the short stories of Annie Proulx . To steal from Ivan Doig, she’s a “lariat proletariat,” but watch out, the album will break your heart." Seattle's KBCS's Music Director and Music Host, Iaan Hughes.
"Amber Cross has created a record that is rich in authentic wonders. It is cleverly varied, deftly produced and performed with such fervour and emotion that is just breathtaking." Mike Ritchie, FATEA
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Mike Morrison, Americana Roots UK
"It is Cross’s voice (and songs) that are the heart of the album. She has a distinctive raw-boned voice that has distinctive phrasing and clear diction." - Stephen Rapid, Lonesome Highway
"Cross's country is not country music, a manufactured entity, but an authentic rural sensibility, which you can't fake though many have tried." - Jerome Clark, Rambles.NET
"Savage on the Downhill by Amber Cross: stark, evocative country. The ache in Cross’s voice is something you find in every song, which is part of what makes this album so powerful.” – Gary Schwind, AXS
"...impressive collection of folk songs that recall storytellers like Woody Guthrie and Lucinda Williams." Brittney McKenna, American Songwriter
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"There’s a roughness about “Savage on the Downhill,” that can only come from survival” – Laura Bauer, Wide Open Country
Bluegrass Situation
"Amber Cross conveys her plainspoken lyrics with vocals just as unembellished and to the point. The end results are consistently “grow-on-you” fare and in the case of the compelling title track, lyrically haunting." - Duane Verh, Roots Music Report
"...fine album. The CD profits from Cross’s arresting, unaffected vocal work and a program of understated vignettes about human interactions." - Jeff Burger, No Depression
