Pistol Annies member readies disc
Monday, November 26, 2012 – Ashley Monroe, a member of the trio Pistol Annies, will release her first Warner Nashville solo album, "Like A Rose," to digital outlets on Dec. 18.
The physical CD drops at retail Jan. 22, 2013.
Monroe, 26, spent her childhood in Knoxville, Tenn., where she immersed herself in all varieties of music ranging from country - she's not-too-distantly related to members of the legendary Carter Family - to rock, pop, rap and even opera. When she was 11, Monroe won a talent contest singing I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart, and 2 years later, her father gave Monroe her first guitar.
Shortly thereafter Monroe's father was diagnosed with cancer and died when she was 13. The young girl immersed herself in music. Monroe and her mother moved to Nashville so that Monroe could pursue her dream.
Within a year Monroe had signed a song publishing deal, secured a recording contract and released a single, Satisfied. But her record label merged with a larger company and declined to release her already-recorded album.
In 2008, Monroe cut an EP with singer-songwriter Trent Dabbs and a few years later, at the invitation of Jack White, she sang background vocals on an album he was producing by country-rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson. Monroe also contributed vocals to Bruises on the album "California 37" by the rock band Train.
Monroe also had time to form Pistol Annies in 2011with her friend Miranda Lambert, whose chart-topping hit Heart Like Mine Monroe co-penned, and newcomer Angaleena Presley.
Vince Gill produced the new Monroe disc. "We just got the band in a circle and started playing the songs," Monroe said, "and once we felt like we had a feel for it, I'd do my vocal live - I never went back in to do a second vocal. Everyone put everything we had into the songs. There was a buzz in the room. We all had fun - it felt like a big old family, the way records used to be made."
Some of the songs were newly written for the album; others date back several years. The semi-autobiographical title track was co-written about six years ago with Guy Clark.
Monroe co-wrote You Got Me with Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild. It's about an addiction to something - one thing or another, whether you're stuck in a bad relationship or alcohol or whatever it is - and you try to hide it and fight it but you're kind of saying, 'Alright, you got me'," she said.
On a more light-hearted note is You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter), a duet featuring Blake Shelton
"Used is an update of a song that appeared on Monroe's "Satisfie"d album. "It came to me when I was about 17, and my manager at the time had just bought me this old 1950s Gibson guitar," she said. "It came into my mind that things are worth more used, and I thought about my mom, who had lost my dad when she was 38. I was thinking, she had two kids, she's been through a lot, and, bless her heart, it's all gonna be worth it. Vince and I worked up this new version, which made it fresh for me."
More news for Pistol Annies
CD reviews for Pistol Annies
Annie Up
For those who thought "Hell on Heels" was a one-off side project for Miranda Lambert (along with sidekicks Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe), think again. The Annies, aka "Lonestar Annie" (Lambert), "Hippie Annie" (Monroe), and "Holler Annie" (Presley), are no novelty act. Instead, they tackle material that you just are unlikely to hear on mainstream country radio both in subject matter and sonics.
Like the debut, this one also makes it quite clear that »»» |
Pistol Annies
One might think that given the presence of Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies are some sort of unworthy side, vanity project for Lambert in between discs. They also would be most wrong because this is not just Lambert and a few sidekicks.
Nope. This is a full-fledged, hardcore country trio album (Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley are Lambert's partners in crime) and an excellent one at that. The disc takes no prisoners to say the least, making that clear from the get go »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: McGraw has plenty of fight left –
Despite the fact that Tim McGraw is five years sober, fit as a triathlete and touring behind a number one album, he is still in an unenviable position. As he approaches 50, McGraw has to stay a step ahead of the current crop of young country hunks with TV shows, cross format radio airplay and wider appeal. But as he proved at First Niagara's... »»»
Concert Review: Steve Earle doesn't rest (on laurels) –
If you didn't realize Steve Earle had a new disc out, "The Low Highway," it would have been no problem realizing that quite and quickly.
That was because Earle started the two-hour show with three straight tracks from "The Low Highway," and he would not be done for the night. The title track of was a midtempo effort... »»»
|
|
Country News Digest
 CST
 CST
Elsewhere in the news
Currently at the CST blogs
Some folks listening to Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's new duet album, "Cheaters Game," may well exclaim, 'Well, it's about time!' after finally hearing these two talented country singer/songwriters recording music as a pair for the first time. Willis has built quite a following for her independently-minded feminine perspective, while Robison has written hits for the Dixie Chicks ( Travelin' Soldier) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ( Angry All the Time), as well as penning the ultimate Willie Nelson tribute, What Would Willie Do? and recording it as a solo act.
... »»»
Last fall, singer/songwriter Steve Forbert dropped the 14th studio album of his 35-year career, the impeccable "Over With You." Critics recognized the album as a return to the form Forbert displayed on his earliest works - 1978's stripped back and personal "Alive on Arrival" and 1979's more lushly produced and commercially accessible "Jackrabbit Slim" - but the fact is that Forbert has never strayed far from their basic folk/rock tenets.... »»»
Over the course of the past 20 years or so, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller have both experienced a certain rise in their respective rootsy country profiles. Miller has become one of Nashville's hottest speed dial numbers, as an artist, a guitarist-for-hire (a role he has performed for Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, among others) and an intuitive producer (he's currently working with Executive Music Producer T Bone Burnett to provide the soundtrack for ABC's "Nashville" television series).... »»»
Wilderness
"Wilderness" is another twisted menagerie of The Handsome Family songs. Once again, husband Brett Sparks sings their songs, sometimes in a bellowing gravedigger voice, after adding music to wife Rennie's lyrics. This time out, each and every tune is named after an animal, insect or other such nature creature. However, Rennie studies animals the way Flannery O'Connor wrote about humans, which is with the weirdness and character flaws in primary focus. »»» |
Love Is Everything
George Strait may have reached his seventh decade, but he shows zero signs of slowing down. In fact, Strait seems to be getting even more consistent as he gets older. Strait doesn't stray all that far from the formula that has resulted in superstar status. First and foremost, that means his sonorous voice is mixed far above the music, a very good thing. »»» |
Dark Dirty Mile
Jason Boland and the Stragglers have released a new country album that sounds old. This isn't to imply that the sound is aged in a negative way; they have a classic country maturity that isn't heard too much these days with the exception of Jamey Johnson. For those not familiar with the music of Boland, the first track is a great way to decide whether this is your kind of country music. The title track is a mid tempo country song reminiscent of the late Waylon Jennings. »»» |
Golden
Lady Antebellum probably needed a change in direction after "Own the Night" dropped in 2011. The material was overly geared towards taking dead aim at the radio jugular. That isn't the case this time out on the trio's fifth release because most of the songs veer away from being obviously radio fodder (except for the current single Downtown with its soulful beginning and strong vocals from Hillary Scott), but that also doesn't man that this was the right change. »»» |
Annie Up
For those who thought "Hell on Heels" was a one-off side project for Miranda Lambert (along with sidekicks Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe), think again. The Annies, aka "Lonestar Annie" (Lambert), "Hippie Annie" (Monroe), and "Holler Annie" (Presley), are no novelty act. Instead, they tackle material that you just are unlikely to hear on mainstream country radio both in subject matter and sonics. »»» |
|
