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Chicago vocalist Deitra Farr is so versatile that it's a misnomer to call her singing soul-blues. She's equally comfortable with ballads, pop music, soul, and blues, and she presents a delightful combination of all these styles on her debut record, The Search Is Over. Farr spent her childhood listening to the radio and the soul music of the late '60s and early '70s. She began singing in the choir at the Catholic grade school she attended, and by the time she was a senior in high school, she was singing with her uncle's band. Farr also sang with another local band for fun, but music was still an avocation for her. Farr first stepped into the recording studio when she was 18 as a vocalist for Jimmy Mayes' band, Mill Street Depot. The single "You Won't Support Me" got airplay around Chicago and sparked her enthusiasm for a career as a singer. After she graduated from Columbia College (in Chicago) with a degree in journalism, Farr met piano player Erwin Helfer. Helfer had learned from an...