Rebekah Pulley

BEST SHE'S STILL EVERYTHING: 'SEA OF EVERYTHING' - Critics Pick, Creative Loafing, 2019  
Rebekah Pulley’s sixth full-length studio album opens with a seven-minute track that is actually two songs rolled into one. “Central Avenue” and “The City” are about St. Petersburg. Written in the years between the release of her last album (2012’s Tralala), the songs address the many changes that’ve happened around, and within, Pulley, who downplays her gift for looking at things and then synthesizing her thoughts into songs that prove that she’s still the queen of the Bay area songwriter scene.  - Ray Roa, Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2019

BEST ROVING TROUBADOUR - Critics Pick, Creative Loafing, 2015  
For more than two decades, St. Pete resident Rebekah Pulley has helped shape Tampa Bay’s reputation as a haven for alternative country sounds, and spreading that gospel as one of the area’s hardest-touring independent musicians. - Scott Harrell, Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2015 

BEST FOLK ROCK BAND: REBEKAH PULLEY & THE RELUCTANT PROPHETS - Critics Pick, Creative Loafing, 2013  
Yes, we know — the workhorse songstress with the honeyed-silk vocals makes into the pages of CL frequently. But she and her band deserve some Best of the Bay love after putting out last year’s twangy, tuneful, finely-crafted full-length, Tralala, and steadily performing dates behind it. Well done, Ms. Pulley, and keep up the fantastic seemingly effortless work. - Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2013

BEST CAREER MILESTONE: 'BACK TO BOOGALOO' - Editor's Pick, Creative loafing, 2008 
Rebekah Pulley has self-released several acclaimed CDs in recent years, but none has created quite the buzz as her latest, Back to Boogaloo, which easily ranks as the finest disc of her career. The St. Pete singer/songwriter hits the mark on nearly every cut, giving detailed lyrics about life’s little ups and downs with just the right amount of pathos. Pulley’s memorable, acoustic guitar-based melodies enjoy expert treatment courtesy of her top-flight backing unit, the Reluctant Prophets, and multi-instrumentalist/co-producer Steve Connelly. Songs simply don’t get much sweeter than a number like the album-closing “Watching You Go.” - Wade Tatangelo, Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2008

DEBUT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: "BACK TO BOOGALOO' - 3rd Coast Music, 2008 
Thanks to Ronny Elliott, I know that The Twist came from Tampa, FL, and I’m pretty certain that it’s thanks to the Americana pioneer that I now know there’s at least one other seriously talented musician in The Big Guava. It’s all too easy to patronize coverage in local papers—how much do they have to work with?—but you can see why the Tampa/St Pete media are all over Pulley. They don’t have to cut her any hometown slack, her folk-rock album would be outstanding wherever it came from. Pulley has a wonderful voice, but I have a stack of CDs that I know I’ll  never get to by women with wonderful voices, some of whom have songs just as good as Pulley’s 13 stream of consciousness originals, and if she has terrific musicians, particularly Ryan Arsenault (piano/B3) and Sandi Grecco (drums), any flake in Austin can hire first rate musos. What makes this album so special is Pulley and guitarist Steve Connelly’s quite extraordinarily intelligent and musically astute production that maximizes all its ingredients. Thousands of decisions, some really major, most individually quite minor, go into making an album and it’s asking a lot for anyone to get all of them right, in fact the producer of the last album I reviewed by a Florida- based female singer-songwriter got virtually everything wrong, but if Pulley and Connelly zigged when they should have zagged, it must have been on a positively microscopic level. Immensely enjoyable, and a master class in DIY. - John Conquest, 3rd Coast Music, 2008

BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER - Critics Pick, Creative Loafing, 2005 
She captured the local original-music scene’s attention a couple years ago, and has admirably held it since, remaining one of the most loved, cited and talked-about artists in the area. And she’s only gotten better, widening her stylistic palette in both grittier and mellower directions, while maintaining one of the most evocative voices around. Whether solo or with her fine band The Reluctant Prophets, she’s a standout act on any bill, be it rock-, folk-, pop-, or jam-oriented. She should be famous, but first, can we get another album of intimate yet universal tunes, please? - Scott Harrell, Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2005

BEST LOCAL ALBUM: THE REAL WORLD - St. Petersburg Times (Tampa Tribune), 2003 
Rebekah Pulley, The Real World. A sultry, rootsy Americana disc that could go head-to-head with any of the above-mentioned  National Best of the Year albums. Fans go gaga over Pulley's gorgeous voice, but she wrongly gets compared to "folkies" and Lilith Fair ladies, and not the acoustic greats who are more her speed: Cash, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell. - Gina Vivinetto, Music Critic, St. Petersburg Times (Tampa Tribune), 2003 

BEST ACOUSTIC ACT - Critics Pick, Creative Loafing, 2002 
Rebekah Pulley Singer/songwriter Rebekah Pulley is not, repeat not, a folkie. Sure, she can hold a coffeehouse crowd transfixed, and her occasionally socio politically tinged lyrics at times recall a certain old-school grassroots sensibility. Her songs, however, showcase an enviable knack for both dynamic structure and subtle texturing of mood, and her warbling, captivating voice is all white soul and compelling pop melody. Shit, she's good. Last winter's A Brand New Day adequately introduced a songwriter with an amazingly mature grasp of the craft but didn't quite do her powerful vocals justice; live, her singing is both technically spot-on and emotionally devastating. It can drop your jaw and break your heart. Pulley's local profile has risen steadily over the last six months, and in certain Pinellas circles, anticipation of her next disc, titled Here in the Real World  is already high and deservedly so. — Music Critic, Creative Loafing, 2002