Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love and Murder

Recorded in four "acts" at studios on the East Coast, Austin and Houston, Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love and Murder unfolds as a music and theatrical journey through a series of stripped-down songs that document the seldom-told stories of a real woman living a real life at the turn of the twenty-first century. The themes are both contemporary and timeless, ranging from Bell's comical, foot-stomping, hand-clapping, beat-driven romp, "The Cougar Anthem," to the banjo-infused bluegrass breakdown, "Big Kev," to her tragic dirge, The Southern Gothic Wedding Waltz."

In addition to her originals on the CD, Glenna Bell's cover songs include a first-person barrelhouse version of the American folk classic, "Frankie and Johnny," that takes Bell back to her roots in the deep east Texas woods of The Big Thicket, along with her stark vocal rendition of Sam Cooke's 1963 gospel hit, "Lost and Lookin',"on which she steps back in time to the a cappella church singing from her childhood in the "Golden Triangle," the tiny east Texas enclave that produced two of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century: Janis Joplin and George Jones. Bell's stone-cold country duet take on the Clint Eastwood movie theme song, "Honky Tonk Man," also offers something for those who love traditional country music. Throughout the album, the spare production technique, with Bell's vocals and guitar aided by guitar, banjo, keyboards, bass and percussion, accentuates her distinctive vocals and the songs' well-written lyrics.

A true Daughter of the Republic of Texas, Glenna Bell is a direct descendent of ancestors who fought for Texas independence. She grew up in the east Texas lumber towns of Pineland and Lumberton, where she rode in rodeos and lived the real country life before heading to Los Angeles to become a theater critic and eventually a playwright, who studied with the legendary Edward Albee at the University of Houston's exclusive Creative Writing Program.