Willow Avalon – Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell
Father-daughter relationships are as country as it gets. This month, we get new music from Jim White, the veteran Georgian singer-songwriter-author, and the debut LP from his daughter, Willow Avalon. We’ll look at White’s album ahead of its January 31 release date, but Avalon’s record, Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell, a healthy slice of Southern sass with (thankfully) not a hint of sugary country pop, hits shelves and streams this week.
Avalon leans right into that familial gift on the album’s brief first track. “Runs in the Family,” which ticks off all of her relations who can carry a tune or pick it a bit. Quickly enough, though, we’re in Avalon’s own world, with the uptempo, steel-toned “Something We Regret” detailing just the kind of night the title evokes – “I can still taste the tobacco on his breath/Rolled me up and smoked me, then he left.” The next song, “Homewrecker,” could be the unfortunate, clear-eyed aftermath of that smoky night – “He only gave me his side of the truth…Thought it was only him under that roof.”
One of last year’s breakthrough artists, Maggie Antone, joins Avalon on the country chugger “Yodelayheehoo. They seem to attract the same level of loser, with this two step-worthy diss track making it very clear who should NOT creep on these two singers – “Why would I care/That your little band’s playing bars and no one’s there.” On the other hand, Avalon understands the struggle that comes with choosing music for a living. “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke” lays out the reality of the financials in the streaming era – “The more they take/The more there ain’t no pennies in the piggy left for me.”
Like just about any young woman in country music, Avalon finds herself drawn to a certain Tennessee native. The bouncy “Hey There Dolly” imagines a kinship between the two big personalities – “We’d be best friends/Backwoods Barbie/Life of the party/Spending every cent ‘cause looks like ours don’t come for free.” The album’s title track, though, is a big country stomper that lays out the true strength behind the sass – “If you two time this little lady/You’re going to see a long line of family crazy.” As she lays out in the first grooves of this record, Avalon has embraced the attitude that comes with an inherited talent for verbally putting people in their place.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Want Me Now” – this melancholy (“Went home with a man, wished he was you”) rambler brings out the vulnerable, tremulous side of Avalon’s otherwise tough-as-nails vocals.
Go here to order Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell (out January 17): https://store.warnermusic.com/en/warner-music-store/atlantic-records/willow-avalon/southern-belle-raisin-hell-opaque-baby-pink/075678601552.html
Check out tour dates here: https://www.willowavalonmusic.com/
The album was produced by Tofer Brown, JR Atkins, and Willow Avalon; engineered by Buckley Miller, Jon Truman and Tofer Brown; recorded at Smoakstack (Nashville, TN) and Chromatic (Nashville, TN); mixed by Bryan Brown at Slow Genius (Nashville, TN) ; and mastered by Ian Sefchick at Dark Sky Mastering (Los Angeles, CA).
Musicians on the album are Willow Avalon on vocals; JR Atkins on electric guitar; Noah Rauchwerk on drums; Jack McLoughlin on pedal steel; Tofer Brown on organ, bass, Mellotron, piano, banjo, acoustic and rubber guitar, electric guitar and background vocals; Jimi Westbrook on whistle; and Jon Truman on drums and percussion.
