A country blues gospel mix, Appalachian stories with a twist of the Celtic, true to the bone midwest farm stories, lives and loves and changes on the farm, on the road, and through life: four gifted and very different songwriters set their dreams and song in the landscape of Americana music.

Brigitte DeMeyer has been drawn to the sounds of soul as gospel since she was a little girl, and across the years she’s added an interest in country songwriting and singing from the likes of Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and Patty Griffin. If you like any of those three, you’ll likely enjoy DeMeyer’s work. On Rose of Jericho, her latest album, there’s a bluesy, gutsy style to the melodies, especially on Sip Molasses, Say Big Papa, and West Side Mama. At the same time there’s a soul mixed with sass style to DeMeyer’s singing, and her lyrics at times sound like gospel songs that arise from faith found and carried into walks of life outside the church doors. Standout tracks include Jeremiah’s Blues, One Wish, and Amen Said the Deacon. Brady Blade, who you might know from his work with Harris, co-produced the project with DeMeyer and sits in on drums. Will Kimbrough and Sam Bush are among the others who back up DeMeyer on this album, the first one she’s made since moving to Nashville from northern California.

Kyle Carey is drawn to stories, ones that may come from people who stand a bit at an angle to the immediately obvious. The title cut of her album Monongah talks of the lives of the wives and children of miners who died on an early twentieth century West Virginia mine disaster, while the rider on her Orange Blossom train sees the trip as a journey not only to warmer climes but to better times. It’s a journey taken with a bluegrass country Celtic melody, too, but a very different one than the bluegrass classic Orange Blossom Special, a choice that adds depth a perspective to the tale. In addition to her love for American folk music, Carey loves the music of the Celtic lands, too - especially Scotland and Cape Breton. Those landscapes are included on Mononagh through a song in Scottish Gaelic, Gaol ise gaol e, and The Star Above Rankin’s Point, inspired by her time on Cape Breton in the Canadian Maritimes. Musicians who join Carey on the album include producer Donogh Hennessy on guitar, Aoife Clancy and Pauline Scanlon on backing vocals, and Rosie MacKenzie on fiddle.

Matraca Berg goes deeply into the heart and lives of the people she talks of in her songs, songs that are at once lyrical in the poetic sense of the word and grounded in day to day life. The title track of her album The Dreaming Fields is a many layered consideration of her grandfather’s farm being sold off, while Clouds is an understated take on grief and sorrow that leaves plenty of room for a listener to recall his or her own stories. South of Heaven inhabits the grief, anger, and resignation of a woman who has lost a son to war. Fall Again and A Cold Rainy Morning in London in June take on two very different ways of thinking about love. Musical friends Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss sit in on several tracks on what is essentially a sparely produced album with focus on voice and story. Berg has written songs which have been recorded by dozens of top country artists -- one of them from this album, You and Tequila, has already been covered by Kenny Chesney. It has been fourteen years, though, since Berg has made a solo album. It’s worth the wait.

Tim Grimm talks of life on the farm too. In fact he has a a whole album called Farm Songs. Grimm, who farms in central Indiana when he is not making music, sees the subject from many angles, from the aging farmer keeping the farm going after his sons have moved on, to the daughter who inherited a farm and stays on to walk in her father’s footsteps, to the weather of winter and summer, to the changing days of autumn, to the farmhouse cat. He offers all these tales in a warm storyteller’s voice with just the right hint of a rough edge that suits the landscapes of the stories. Jan Lucas and Jason Wilber join Grimm on the album. Standout cuts include 80 acres, Heart of Winter, The Longest Night, and Autumn Garden.

Kerry Dexter is the Music Editor for Wandering Educators.
Kerry's credits include CMT, the folk music magazine Dirty Linen, National Geographic Traveler, Strings, and The Encyclopedia of Ireland and the Americas. She also writes about the arts and creative practice at Music Road. You may reach her at music at wanderingeducators dot com.