Coast Weekly
California Aggie
Illinois Entertainer

Face Magazine
Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Newsletter

Coast Weekly

You know how sometimes there's a sound that comes out of your stereo and it cuts through whatever else is going on? Leslie Claussen's voice did just that when I stuck it in the disc spinner.  There's an intensity and earnestness that is immediately arresting, that makes you listen to what she's singing.  And that's a very cool thing, because there's some real meat hanging on the bones of her music.
     It's not that Claussen is really breaking any new ground.   Her songs deal in some of the most common themes in the genre: love lost and self-definition through family relations. But Claussen attacks these themes in such a compelling way that they seem new and as compelling as everyone's first love.  I was particularly affected by "Take Me Home:" "Take me home, my darling/I don't really want to fight anymore/take me home, my darling/neither one of us is right anymore/no need to feed this fire/we're like two riders on a runaway train/ speeding off to nowhere..."  We've all been there, it's nothing new -- but Claussen takes this reality and turns it into poetry.

By Chuck Thurman
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Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Newsletter - Dan's Reviews

There’s a blunt honesty to Leslie Claussen’s folk-based songs on "Sketchbook" which make them worth hearing more than once. News broadcasts make the world look like an accident waiting to happen. Claussen captures this unrealistic paranoia perfectly on "Neighbors": "A child wanders next to me/then backs away mistrustfully/’cause I’m the stranger/I could be the danger/lurking in the dark/it breaks my heart." This album is worth it for these lines alone, but "Faces" is of equally high quality.

By Dan MacIntosh
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California Aggie

Leslie Claussen's music should not be neatly termed "folk" - it's too innovative for that. On Sketchbook, the guitar-carrying minstrel and one-time UC Davis student, sings with fervor and gentleness. While sometimes dabbling in lighthearted ditties about love, Claussen also ranges to much deeper topics, including the abuse at the hands of an angry stepfather and the absence of a mother-figure, that characterized her rocky childhood.

Still, neither self-pity nor glib over-acceptance are present in Claussen's music. On the moving and groovable "Never Be the Same," she reminds us that "While it's true there may be sweetness in the rain/ We miss so much if that's all we feel." The chords are powerful, uplifting and even danceable, all carried by Claussen's strong, melodious voice. After a few plays, you may find yourself singing along, or, in our case, dancing across the newsroom.

Claussen made her first appearance in Davis at Borders Books and Music this past winter, but after listening to her CD - especially the pleasing "At Least We Can Dance," the sweet "Take Me Home" or the evocative "Icarus" - you will be left hoping that she returns.

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Illinois Entertainer

The phrase "short but sweet" pretty much describes this thought-provoking disc. The entire collection clocks in at just over 33 minutes, yet almost every cut somehow manages to nicely express the poignant -- and often quite powerful -- sentiments of this mellifluous singer/songwriter. "West With The Sun" admirably examines "roads not taken" on the journey of life, while "Neighbors" explores the fearful but often false realities of modern-day existence. Claussen fixates a mite too much on her family (more than half of the 10 tunes mention at least one parent), but otherwise the CD is a smooth and reasonably solid debut.

By Jeff Berkwits
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Screachen

Leslie Claussen is a fresh new artist with a new record company. We have to say what a good choice for the record company to release Leslie Claussen as their first artist. Leslie has the feel of the music from the sixties as in Joni Mitchell, but still have the smooth creative sound for the years to come with the touch of Melissa Etheridge. What we are saying here is that this artist is so refined that she could pull off the music from the past, but still have her own sound that will be music to ears to of many listeners.

This CD would be great to drink a cup of warm tea by the fireplace while watching the rain come down, or a very romantic dinner, or a nice drive through the mountains or just relaxing and listening to it at any time. This is no doubt that this artist is going to be a great kick off for a new  record company's first release.

We give Leslie Claussen two big thumbs up!
By Al Harbison  (02/00) 
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Face Magazine

Feb 2 - 15, 2000
Sketchbook, Leslie Claussen, Canto Veritas.Claussen has a clear, strong voice and a knack for sweet, pensive folk music. All the material here is delivered with acoustic guitar and a sprinkling of other instruments, but it doesn't need any more than that. Sketchbook is aptly named: it's minimalist, but effective.

Andre Salles (editor)
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