Miss Tess

When most people think of defiant music, they think of punk rock or outlaw country. But defying genres while transcending eras and resisting clichs is hard to pin down when it comes to artistry-unless youre talking about Miss Tess, who does all of that and more on her new release, The Moon Is an Ashtray. Swinging for the fences and from the branches of jazz, country, blues and old school rock and roll, she has employed all of her influences and talents on a tour-de-force, while cleverly taking standard perspectives and ideas-like the definition of a love song-to task.