(And, yes, I have purposefully skipped over Bonnaroo)
Sometimes it feels like with each Tuesday comes a new "up-and-coming" female vocalist. There's always the next Patsy Cline, the next Janis Joplin, the next Edie Brickell (That may just be wishful thinking on my part). I cringe to think that two, three or four decades from now, someone might be called "the next Miley Cyrus." It's not that all the females out there are irritating, and I certainly don't find new music or young musicians to not be worthy of my time. It's just that there's so damn many, I can't keep up! Most of the time, they just get lost in the shuffle for me. I'd say it takes something amazing for me to take notice, but in this case, it took absolutely nothing. It took me glancing to my left, as I shelved an old Phoenix CD and noticing that we had eight copies of an album from some girl I'd never heard of before.
And then it took a second glance at the cover. With it's picture of a girl in a dark cotton dress with lace, sepia wash and that ...thing in her hand, it reminded me of those pictures you get at the state fair. The kind where you get dressed up in old clothes, sit on a bar and point pistols at each other. I always wanted to do one of those-Perhaps I was just jealous and wanted to hate the album.
Except I couldn't-Because she's the next big thing on my playlist.
Her voice is this astonishing throwback to the women of the past with the strength and power of the women now. NPR described her as "Sweet" and "Smooth" but I think she's the opposite. There's something fierce, nervy and wild about her voice. It's dirty in the best of ways. Her music, in my opinion, may be too country to ever make it big in the new American country scene and probably the same for pop, too. She's got the sort of sound, though, that I think fits nice and snug into the current folk scene in London. That scene, of course, is still earning tons of hype in the states...just not to the same effect, it seems.
Still. I think Audra Mae is one girl worth a serious listen. Here are my top three tunes off her album:
The Happiest Lamb- This song seems the most mainstream to me. It's got the sort of beats deserving of a hand out a rolled down window. It's sassy and easy to relate to for even the most sheltered of souls. Who hasn't realized they're a sheep after the same shepard?
Millionaire- This song is like a new version of 'Coal Miner's Daughter.' "Barbie dolls and lemonade, we sold it all and all we made was gone so fast" reminds me exactly of when Loretta Lynn sang about selling the hog to get shoes for winter. Life is rough, of course. But Audra Mae begs the question that Ms. Lynn's pride always gave way to: "Who wants to be a millionaire?" It's soft, aching and earnest but still slightly hopeful. She'll be okay without all that money, and she knows it.
Bandida- I could just be partial to songs about war (okay, I am), but I love this song. First, I should state the obvious: I love the guitar. It's softness offsets her battle cries so perfectly I want to weep. Second, oh, yes-There are battle cries. Then there are these amazing lines, "What would I do to find you? I'll cloak my face and hide. I'll veil myself in black and steel and battle at your side." Tell me you can't picture it-Tell me you don't see one rough, enraged girl and tell me you can't feel her desperate love. Tell me. I won't believe you. (Here's a really short snippet-I hope!)
Here's a link, though, for a live performance of a fourth song called "The River." This is actually the first song I noticed once I put her disk into the player. When it was over for the first time, I immediately played it again.
That's all for now. As always, investigate her, buy the album, and definitely share your thoughts.
-AD
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