DISClaimer Single Reviews: Carly Pearce Is ‘Country Music Eloquence’

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Carly Pearce. Photo: Allister Ann

Tomorrow, March 7, is International Women’s Day, and DISClaimer salutes that with an all-female playlist today.

Leading the charge is Disc of the Day winner Carly Pearce. Her excellent “No Rain” is joined by first-class new music from Dasha, Tigirlily Gold and Sarah Borges.

Newcomer Caroline Owens wins this week’s Disc of the Day award. She’s so promising that the current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited devoted a feature story to her before she’d released any music.

FIMONE / “Woman”
Writer: Janelle Faiman; Producer: Greg Magers; Label: Fimone
– This feminist anthem features her drawling, bluesy voice accompanied solely by her snarling electric guitar. The lyric demands equal rights, addressing bodily autonomy, pay parity and an end to systemic oppression. In other words, “r.e.s.p.e.c.t.” Kinda preachy but kinda cool, too.

CARLY PEARCE / “No Rain”
Writers: Carly Pearce/Emily Weisband/Jordan Reynolds/Lauren Hungate; Producers: Carly Pearce, Dave Clauss; Label: Big Machine Records
– When you’re going through hardship, remember that without rain, there are no flowers. Pearce’s vocal is beautifully phrased, and the strings-and-guitar accompaniment is simply poetic. Country music eloquence.

CARTER FAITH / “If I Had Never Lost My Mind”
Writers: Carter Faith/Jen Stegall/Lauren Hungate/Tofer Brown; Producer: Tofer Brown; Label: UMG Nashville
– Her plaintive soprano vocal covers an impressive range, up into falsetto acrobatics, as she wends her way through this heartache power ballad. An oomphy production adds to the dynamics. Impressive.

SIERRA HULL / “Spitfire”
Writer: Sierra Hull; Producer: Sierra Hull; Label: SH
– Singer, songwriter and mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull gives this story song a wafting lilt. The ballad’s lyric is about her strong and resilient grandmother. Her performance of it is surrounded by a silky cushion of acoustic sound, anchored by her own deft guitar playing. Hull is booked to perform tomorrow night (March 7) at Brooklyn Bowl.

TIGIRLILY GOLD / “Forever From Here”
Writers: Kendra Slaubaugh/Krista Slaubaugh/Pete Good/Shane McAnally; Producer: Pete Good; Label: Monument Records
– She has a vision of their future together, as in, “I can see forever from here.” The rippling, sparkly track is full of energy and sunshine. So is the harmony-soaked duet performance. This effervescent single is their finest to date.

MADDIE & TAE / “Kissing Cowboys”
Writers: Laura Veltz/Luke Dick/Maddie Font/Taylor Kerr; Producer: Josh Kerr; Label: Mercury Nashville
– The duo bops though this rollicking, good-time tune with joyous moxie to spare. I bet this one is a blast in concert.

CAROLINE OWENS / “You’ve Still Got It”
Writers: Jerry Salley/John Pennell; Producers: Darin Aldridge, Jerry Salley; Label: Billy Blue
– She sings this lovely ode to addictive romance in a sky-high mountain soprano. This works super well when the male harmony vocals are stacked beneath it. Dazzling mandolin picking and sighing fiddle add to the magic. Bluegrass on the wing in full flight.

DASHA / “Not at This Party”
Writers: Anna Dasha Novotny/Ashley Gorley/Ben Johnson; Producers: Ben Johnson, Johnny Reno; Label: Warner Records
– To state the obvious right away: This is brain meltingly catchy, ridiculously lovable and a rhythm happy carnival ride. While the beats drop around her, Dasha advises us that she’s physically at the party, but her mind is on him. Get up and dance.

HAILEY WHITTERS & MOLLY TUTTLE / “Prodigal Daughter”
Writers: Bryan Simpson/Hailey Whitters/Paul Sikes; Producer: Jake Gear; Label: Big Loud Records
– This rocks. Whitters wails righteously of her lost innocence amid a frothing, percussive track. Bluegrass star Molly Tuttle provides guitar and harmony-vocal support.

RUNAWAY JUNE / “To Be Yours”
Writers: Aaron Eshuis/Jennifer Wayne/Natalie Stovall/Ron Fair/Stevie Woodward; Producer: Ron Fair; Label: Quartz Hill Records
– Sugary sweet. The trio adopts a soft, caressing vocal tone for this lovey-dovey tune. It’s as delicious as an ice cream sundae and as lovely as a pastoral watercolor, but I like them better when they are feisty and bopping.

SARAH BORGES / “Mercy of the Moon”
Writers: Jay Godfrey/Jeremy Tepper; Producer: Eric “Roscoe” Ambel; Label: Lakeside Lounge Records
– This is a rumbling honky tonker delivered by a sturdy roadhouse alto. Twang guitars,  slamming drumming and band-member support vocals give it a pleasingly garage-y sound. The totally country song was co-written by Jeremy Tepper, the Diesel Only Records man who died too young and is much missed.

AVERY ANNA / “Mr. Predictable”
Writers: Avery Anna/Ben Williams/David Fanning; Producer: David Fanning; Label: Warner Music Nashville
– There is something about her voice that has me hanging on every line. This aching performance about being in love with a cheater has dramatic shifts in tone, from solo intimacy to furiously electronic roaring. Fascinating listening.

LILY ROSE / “I Know What I Want”
Writers: Andy Albert/Emily Weisband/Jaxson Free/Lily Rose/Paul DiGiovanni/Taylor Phillips; Producer: Paul DiGiovanni; Label: LR
– This perennial rule breaker leans in a pop/hip-hop direction on this snappy slab of sass. The lyric is quite simple and quite repetitive.

Robert K Oermann
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