Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez

"She of the beehive hairdo and the Saturday Night Live Band brings the ringing endorsement of Charlie Musselwhile to her excitedly sung and enjoyable roots-rock songs"- Downbeat

"As a singer, Ohlman makes each song sound like a prime cut on a jukebox in a Memphis barbecue joint. Hit(s) the sweet spot, straight and true." -Vintage Guitar Magazine


"Expect this album to pepper a few best-of lists in December. The songs on The Deep End draw as much upon gospel and urban doo-wop as they do blues and Americana. “I surrender to the rhythm in my blood”, Ohlman sings in 'Like Honey'. Me too, Christine, me too.” –Bill Holmes, www.popmatters.com (Top 10 Pick for 2010) - Downbeat Magazine, Vintage Guitar Magazine, PopMatters.com/ Blurt.com

"Ohlman and Rebel Montez concoct a Soul atmosphere as thick and palpable as a humid Southern night. Ohlman’s voice is a dusky, supple thing of dark Soul beauty, like a genre splice of Dusty Springfield and Delbert McClinton. She sells the album’s handful of covers with aching authenticity, from her duets with Marshall Crenshaw on the Marvin Gaye/Mary Wells classic “What’s the Matter with You Baby” and with the incomparable Dion on “Cry Baby Cry.” But the standouts on The Deep End are Ohlman’s stunning originals, which blister and soothe in equal measure."- Brian Baker, Cincinnati CityBeat

"The husky-voiced singer is a full-package talent, a dynamic rocker who draws on soul and blues in ways that give her music a classic feel even as it pulses with her own personality. Make no mistake: If Ian Hunter, Dion DiMucci, Marshall Crenshaw, Levon Helm, G.E. Smith, Big Al Anderson, and Eric Ambel draw you into The Deep End, it's Ohlman who ends up making the biggest impression. As in: 'Wow'." - Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer (syndicated) - TOP TEN LIST 2010 - The Philadelphia Inquirer / Cincinatti City Beat

“Christine Ohlman and her band Rebel Montez have just released their sixth studio album, The Deep End, to what will undoubtedly be rave critical acclaim. Let it begin here. It’s staggering!" - Reb Landers, www.thealternateroot.com (chosen #1 CD release of 2010)
- TheAlternateRoot.com

"The record, like any good bit of love, has layers: not so much warning as honest admission - or perhaps understanding - of love's varied means and ends. In fact, the blues isn't always about being sad, but simply allowing room for the myriad reaches and complexities of emotion." --Kim Ruehl, NoDepression.com

"The Deep End insists on telling the truth until it alters perceptions of love and loss and how it all works, especially when it falls apart so tragically as that which produced this work of art. Here comes the sun, healing and transcendent." --www.thebluegrassspecial.com - www.nodepression.com / www.thebluegrassspecial.com

"Tough, tender, thoughtful and sassy-- R-E-A-L, as Sam Phillips was wont to say."- Peter Guralnick, Award-Winning Author and Musicologist (Last Train To Memphis, Sweet Soul Music) - Blog

" . . .the first thing you notice is her tough, rousing, sexy voice. . . . the second thing you notice is that she can write songs with booming choruses you want to sing along with the first time you hear them"-Charles M. Young PLAYBOY

“The number-one secret weapon in America’s gal-singing’ sweepstakes. It’s now time to get hip to Christine Ohlman, because musical treasures don’t come along like this very often.” --Cub Koda/ Goldmine
- PLAYBOY & Goldmine

THE DEEP END January 2010 by Kay CordtzOn her latest record, seasoned R&B chanteuse Christine Ohlman writes and sings about human interactions, from irresistible sex to true love and, ultimately, unbelievable loss. There’s never a doubt that Ohlman is singing from an experienced heart. While her powerful voice allows her to belt out numbers with the horn-fueled Saturday Night Live band, she can also sing with Intelligence and emotional control, making her passionate moments more effective. Assisted by her band, Rebel Montez, an all-star lineup of contributors and co-producer Andy York, Ohlman shines up all 15 tracks with her beehive artistry.

Starting out red-hot, Ohlman and Ian Hunter deliver a lascivious duet on “There Ain’t No Cure,” followed by the gently flowing “The Deep End,” an earnest testament of abiding love. On “Cry Baby Cry,” she trades desperate lyrics with Dion. Her cover of the Marvin Gaye/Mary Wells hit “What’s The Matter With You Baby” bops along joyously thanks to Ohlman and Marshall Crenshaw’s charming interplay and Levon Helm’s dancing beats. Ohlman wrote the lament for New Orleans “The Cradle Did Rock” after being at Mardi Gras in 2006. “Walkin’ Down The Street Called Love,” recorded live, features Ohlman’s longtime guitarist, the late Eric Fletcher.

The most heartfelt performance is also the most heartbreaking: “The Gone Of You,” probably written for Ohlman’s longtime partner and producer Doc Cavalier who passed in 2005, throbs with longing, a painfully intimate glimpse of the suffering the loss of a mate can bring. Ohlman and York underline its significance by including two versions: the first with the band and the second, which closes the record, the “After Hours” version which combines Ohlman’s vocals with York’s instrumentation and “technical voodoo.”
--Kay Cordtz

ELMORE MAGAZINE: The Beehive Queen Of Blue-Eyed Soul
Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez
Re-Hive (HMG Records)
The blue-eyed soul of the beehived soul queen Christine Ohlman astounds any live audience lucky enough to be in her presence. As a veteran and featured vocalist of the SNL band, her finely tuned pipes are often heard, not seen; a huge misfortune for the late night viewer as her charisma onstage is one of a kind. Few singers today are truly versed, like Ohlman, in all things soul. But her encyclopedic knowledge of the genre has only helped refine her powerful voice and enrich her catalog of staple covers.

Though she sings Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” as if the song burst forth from her inner being, few know that Ohlman is a seasoned songwriter herself.
Re-Hive retrospectively showcases some of her best original tunes from four previous releases along with some alternate takes, live cuts and unreleased tracks. If the “True Grit” and “Truth Telling” soul queens have a common descendant, it is Christine Ohlman. Tough and raw around the edges, Ohlman belts with a voice steeped in the heritage of this musical tradition. Even when not singing soul songs, she embodies the power and masked vulnerability essential to the genre.

Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez suffered the loss of long-time friend and producer Doc Cavalier in 2005. Re-Hive is appropriately dedicated to Cavalier. As Christine says, “The four CDs we cut together were Doc’s babies as surely as they were mine.” This collection is a great primer for new Ohlman fans curious about this in-demand lady whose guest spots and collaborations form a daunting list that’s the stuff of musical legend. Look for her first release of original material in five years, The Deep End, due out in early 2009. —Ali Green

- Elmore Magazine

The All-Music Guide Review by Hal Horowitz April, 2010

"Whatever she touches becomes soulful and passionate. Ohlman always sounds like her born-to-be-bad self, belting out songs like the spitfire she is. It's that swagger combined with tenderness that makes her so compelling...the perfect balance of raw soul and gutsy rock. Perhaps the most powerful and potent moment is the title track, a gospel-infused swamp ballad that seems autobiographical, especially when she sings that she's 'hard to handle, the excitable kind/take off runnin' when I could've walked.' Ohlman never flinches from the hard stuff and throughout The Deep End, she dives in like the classic soul kings and queens she idolizes." - Hal Horowitz, The All Music Guide

The All-Music Guide Review by Hal Horowitz November, 2008


As its title infers, this 18-track collection is a recap of the recorded career of soulful rocking singer Christine Ohlman, aka the Beehive Queen. A handful of tracks is sampled from each of her three studio releases (1996's The Hard Way, 2000's Wicked Time, and Strip from 2003), but the real fun comes courtesy of the smattering of live, demo, and alternate takes along with two newly recorded blues covers, all debuting here. Ohlman never sings a tune halfway. She injects soul and inspiration through every note, wringing the last drop of emotion out of material tailored for her husky voice. Her tough, urban approach to originals swaggers like a street punk looking for a rumble on the rough side of town. She's the distaff side of Willy DeVille, strutting down the avenue with a sassy attitude hiding a heart of gold. Her rugged Rebel Montez band is primed for its supporting role, acting as the swampy rock heart that pumps blood into the veins of songs that never overstay their welcome. Versions of Dan Penn's "It Tears Me Up," Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," and John Lee Hooker's "Dimples" highlight the blues influences underpinning Ohlman's originals, which dominate the disc. She's the leader of the pack, and if the Shangri-Las were making rock music in the '90s, it would likely sound something like "Sugar Melts," a sexed-up story that exudes all the spunk of Mary Weiss in cougar mode. Throaty ballads such as the Springsteen-styled "The Hard Way" don't lessen the tension, either, even if the guitars lay back a bit more. This generous compilation is a terrific introduction to a singer/songwriter who owns everything she touches.

- The All-Music Guide

Of The Deep End:

"There "There are so many 'wow' moments. Ohlman turns out the best blue-eyed soul of her career...'The Gone of You' fully exhibits how much grief a blues-drenched heart can bear. The whole history of soul music can be heard here, reflected in a passionate life--or two.""- Dave Marsh, SIRIUS/XM Radio / Rolling Stone editor emeritus

"The Beehive Queen has never sounded better"- Andrew Loog Oldham, Producer, The Rolling Stones / SIRIUS/XM Radio personality - Dave Marsh

“There’s a wondrous familiarity and traditionalism in Christine Ohlman's old-school, rough-hewn, Southern-soul roots rock. With her husky voice and formidable hairdo, the "Beehive Queen" has been a powerhouse presence in Connecticut bars and clubs — and in the house band of TV's "Saturday Night Live" — for decades. But it's with her stripped-down quartet Rebel Montez that Ohlman has done her most distinctive work. As a singer she can mix it up mightily with guest vocalists Ian Hunter, Dion DiMucci and Marshall Crenshaw, and wail alongside guitar solos from Al Anderson, Andy York, her old Scratch Band buddy G.E. Smith and new bandmate Cliff Goodwin. (This album is still mourning Rebel Montez guitarist Eric Fletcher, who died in 2006 and can be heard playing on a live radio studio rendition of "Walkin' Down the Street Called Love.") But Ohlman especially shines as a songwriter, leavening gruff roots-rock reality with a soulwrenching after-midnight despondency that lets this CD truly earn its title. Ohlman is loyal and true to her roots while setting herself audacious new challenges: deeply impressive.” –Christopher Arnott - New Haven Advocate

ELMORE MAGAZINE: The Beehive Queen Of Blue-Eyed Soul
Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez
Re-Hive (HMG Records)
The blue-eyed soul of the beehived soul queen Christine Ohlman astounds any live audience lucky enough to be in her presence. As a veteran and featured vocalist of the SNL band, her finely tuned pipes are often heard, not seen; a huge misfortune for the late night viewer as her charisma onstage is one of a kind. Few singers today are truly versed, like Ohlman, in all things soul. But her encyclopedic knowledge of the genre has only helped refine her powerful voice and enrich her catalog of staple covers.

Though she sings Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” as if the song burst forth from her inner being, few know that Ohlman is a seasoned songwriter herself.
Re-Hive retrospectively showcases some of her best original tunes from four previous releases along with some alternate takes, live cuts and unreleased tracks. If the “True Grit” and “Truth Telling” soul queens have a common descendant, it is Christine Ohlman. Tough and raw around the edges, Ohlman belts with a voice steeped in the heritage of this musical tradition. Even when not singing soul songs, she embodies the power and masked vulnerability essential to the genre.

Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez suffered the loss of long-time friend and producer Doc Cavalier in 2005. Re-Hive is appropriately dedicated to Cavalier. As Christine says, “The four CDs we cut together were Doc’s babies as surely as they were mine.” This collection is a great primer for new Ohlman fans curious about this in-demand lady whose guest spots and collaborations form a daunting list that’s the stuff of musical legend. Look for her first release of original material in five years, The Deep End, due out in early 2009. —Ali Green

- Elmore Magazine

“The number-one secret weapon in America’s gal-singing’ sweepstakes. It’s now time to get hip to Christine Ohlman, because musical treasures don’t come along like this very often.” --Goldmine

- Goldmine

“Ohlman is out to rearrange your furniture” --Victory Review

“For every slick, over-produced corporate-hyped marketing concept like Britney Spears or Mariah Carey, there’s a real singer like Christine Ohlman. The Anti-Mariah, if you will…she’s got a truckload of sass and a set of killer pipes to back up the attitude. We’re talking total package here, kids” --Nine Volt (4 stars)
- Victory Review/Nine Volt

says; " . . . you get the feeling she knows every groove intimately . ." - ". . . a rich, deep contralto voice favorably compared to Janis Joplin . . . . "
- New York Times