Just today, during the Super Bowl, I found myself amazed to hear the American national anthem sung in a sublime way by a son of Kentucky: Chris Stapleton. A state that is now an absolute reference for quality songwriting music. So many valuable artists have come out that every listing them all becomes almost redundant. In addition to the legendary Stapleton, I would like to mention Sturgill Simpson, one of the greatest and most original country writers of the last 30 years. Why is it him? Because Simpson is the producer of the second album of his countrywoman Brit Taylor and together with her shows us once again how in this state the musical talent flows in the rivers and you can breathe with the air. Brit Taylor was born and raised with music to be her traveling companion, She first sang at the Kentucky Opry, and when she was very young, she decided to follow her dreams as a young girl, she studied music business and then moved to where the dreams of all the American musicians who want to break through meet: in Nashville. Things seemed to be going well: a wedding, a small farm and a contract to release music. The puzzle seemed about to be finished, all the pieces in place. Fate, on the contrary, did not think so and the years that followed were characterized by the failure of the marriage and also of the contract she had signed and the band she had put together. When everything goes wrong, hoping for the future is always difficult, but Brit is committed to trying to rebuild her life and with the hard work of someone who never gives up, she managed to be what she dreamed of as a child: a country singer-songwriter of the highest level. She did the cleaning, with exhausting shifts and in the meantime she put aside every penny and in 2020 she released her debut, Real Me, a sort of tale of all her adventures and misadventures of turbulent years. The album had a great critical response, but never thought that her second album would be produced by one of her musical idols and dedicated in the title (and the song related) to another of her recently deceased references, Loretta Lynn. Kentucky Blue is composed of 10 songs that demonstrate the talent of a great singer-songwriter, who skillfully mixes the country of the past, that of Loretta to be clear, with the honky tonk and splash of rock, but always with the personal and recognizable background of a soul born in the mountains, woods and rivers of Kentucky. Cabin in the Woods serves immediately for the purpose of kidnapping and entertaining the ears, an ode, enlivened by the invigorating sound of a banjo, on the simple life in the midst of nature, that would never trade even for a ticket of $ 1 million. The title track is a persuasive ballad with the voice of Taylor that takes our soul and accompanies us in this song that is a kind of celebration of her return home, a dedication felt to her land and even indirectly to her favorite singer. The following Rich Little Girls is a piece accompanied by an exceptional rhythmic and melancholic sound of a violin, the production in this record enhances every note and every nuance and the richness celebrated by the song (and also by the whole record) is not the monetary one, but what you get when you stay true to yourself and you don’t sell yourself for pleasure. The western-flavored ballad, No Cowboys, gives us another thrilling vocal performance in a very retro-sounding piece, a love song that soon gives way to the rhythmic If You Don’t Wanna Love Me, a bit of rock in the background that accompanies the banjo in a piece with a groove wrap. The band behind Taylor is top notch, congratulations! Ain’t a Hard Livin’ follows the mood of the previous song, this time it’s the violin that mixes with guitars in a country rock that touches delightfully the honky tonk to dance on the boards of a local crowded with cowboys and cowgirls. Fun and irresistible. Mention for the beautiful little piano solo, like in an old saloon. The work ends with two different ballads, one with an almost radio flavor like For a Night and the final Best We Can Do is acoustic and the voice is really something special. Beautiful. A record that will make Kentucky proud father of yet another artist of excellent quality. Brit Taylor gives us a work that ranges from classic country to that enlivened by rock discharges, 10 pieces of quality American music, enticed by a voice that you will not easily forget. Get ready for a journey along the roads that line the Appalachian Mountains, through woods, rivers and stories of hard-working men and women telling of dreams and failures.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(you can find original italian article at this link: https://www.ticinonotizie.it/brit-taylor-kentucky-blue-2023-by-trex-roads/ )
