Still the Appalachian Mountains, still their influence in American music, in the new independent folk country that is churning out quality artists at dizzying rates.
As I told you in previous articles, the list of artists in these areas who have an extraordinary talent, is really endless.
This time, however, this influence does not come from direct experience. This artist did not live in this region, but her music has that feeling there. That melancholy taste of true stories that grips the soul and sounds anchored to those of roots, bluegrass and country folk.
Bella White was born far from the mountains of Tyler Childers and Chris Stapleton, is from Alberta,Canada, but probably the influence that her father’s music had in her made her become an American folk country singer in sound and spirit (her father was a well-known Virginia native bluegrass musician).
And precisely that feeling of finite love, of women belittled by men who do not understand their value and indecision about the future, seems to belong to Appalachian music.
Similar to another Canadian country music legend, Colter Wall, is the impact that her voice has on the audience that listens.
If you listen to any of the wonderful Colter Wall songs, the first thing you think about is an old country singer, marked by years and life on the road, who sings us his experiences.
Well, Wall is 27 years old and after overcoming the wonder we fall in love with his stories of cowboys and prairies, suspended between his land, the Saskatchewan, and some ranches in the midwest.
The effect that White’s voice has had on me, and also on a lot of people far more knowledgeable than I have, has triggered the same feeling. An intense, evocative and powerful voice, not expected from a 20-year-old girl.
Powerful and sincere stories sung by Bella White take on additional power.
The young artist is on her second album. The first, Just Like Leaving, from 2020, was very much influenced by bluegrass, in a simple and direct way.
A great album but that in maturity and quality of songwriting is exceeded by this Among Other Things, released by Rounder Records, a label famous for having young independent talents.
The Way I Oughta Go is that old-fashioned sound, acoustic guitar and violin, rhythm and voice.
Friends that voice is so intense, full of character that it could sing anything and be believable.
Listening to these pieces and seeing her age you do not believe, a maturity in tone and in things that tells us really amazing.
Jonathan Wilson’s production is perfect and the band behind Bella is real talent, in poetic and poignant songs like Flowers on my Bedside all this stands out even more. A reflection on spending love wasting energy and singing is melancholy and intensity.
Break My Heart seems more sunny and eventful, with the producer’s wonderful guitar taking the song almost into the streets of Texas country rock, but the lyrics are the same tenor, unrequited love and almost thrown away. But then the violin solo and the keyboard are stuck to perfection, damn that beautiful piece!
The ballad introduced by the piano, Marylin, is delicate and powerful at the same time, the perfect balance that White’s music and voice hold throughout the record. The text is a mix of anger, indignation, but also empathy for the vicissitudes of this woman who does not know and is struggling with a husband who humiliates her.
Numbers still raises the mood of the record with a song that touches gently the honky tonk, but that, as in the previous ones, the voice of White makes powerful and strongly expressive.
The acoustics and a dreamy melody introduce Rhododendron, which seems to be perfect to give even greater prominence to a voice that, despite being powerful, fits very well with a ballad with a sweet and melancholic tone.
In the lyrics there are doubts and concerns about becoming a professional artist who has to live with her music and also doubts about where to live this adventure.
The first piece had brought her from the native Canada to the place where all the dreams of glory of young musicians glide namely Nashville.
The album ends with the title-track and his journey home to Canada, no longer in Alberta but in British Columbia. A journey that was a must to leave behind the crazy and stressful world of Tennessee.
A piece supported by an exceptional work of violin and keyboards, but once again the protagonist is the crazy voice of this Canadian girl with the Appalachian heart.
Sometimes hearing her I almost want to ask her to sing some covers of artists that I love and that I think would be perfect for such a beautiful and powerful voice, but then I listen to these 10 songs and I tell myself that her singing is already perfect in her songs.
Songs with a gentle soul that sometimes dominates with this overflowing character, but that makes you get straight to the soul of the listener.
Let yourself be guided by the voice of Bella White and travel with her on this round-trip road from Canada to Tennessee, passing through Virginia admiring the Appalachian Mountains and their poetic beauty.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(in Ticino Notizie web site you can find original italian version of this article)
