Geef toe, het is ondertussen al even geleden dat ik jullie gepijnigd heb met een streepje c&w, toch? Laat me het nu goedmaken met een vierde ontdekking bij de nieuwe generatie country ladies die (nog) niet genieten van wereldfaam ... in de V.S. Na Morgan Wade, Alana Springsteen en Sophia Scott stel ik jullie deze keer voor aan Lauren Watkins, misschien wel de 'meest country' van de vier. Watkins haalt er collega newb Carter Faith bij voor deze zeemzoete ballad die al een kerstsfeertje ademt. Mooi hoe hun stemmen blenden en hoe beide zachtjes te werk gaan. En plots stel ik vast dat ik haar een dikke week geleden reeds voorgesteld heb ... oeps!
Introducing: The Heartbreak (EP) verschijnt op 17 november via Big Loud Records / Sons & Daughters
Luister ook naar: The Table
Lees
Adding to a burgeoning catalog that Whiskey Riff calls “unique, original, and country as hell,” Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters firebrand Lauren Watkins returns with two more tunes – “Cowboys on Music Row” with country compatriot Carter Faith and “Stuck In My Ways”
“Stuck In My Ways” celebrates the comfort in the mundane, a routine-riddled toe-tapper about being stubborn and happy, “stuck” in habits that fit like a glove. “Cowboys on Music Row” is a mournful duet, perfectly balanced by Watkins' Tennessee limestone gravel and Faith's light-as-a-feather soprano. Wishing for days of old when outlaws had bona fides and country music was just three chords and the truth, they sing:
I'm needin' a red headed stranger
I miss the real rodeo man
A slow talking, walking lone ranger
Who means it - when he gives a damn
They sang what they knew
And they knew what they sang
I wish I could find one
To whisk me away
Where oh, where oh, where did they go
There ain't no cowboys on music row
Drenched in authenticity and rife with barstool charm with an addictive, Tennessee limestone gravel in her voice, Nashville-born and bred songbird Lauren Watkins writes, breathes, and lives country music. The 24-year-old original grew up on the outskirts of Guitar Town, mesmerized by a jukebox rotation of country music, from outlaws like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow to chart-toppers Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and Chris Stapleton. Moving back after four years at Ole Miss, Watkins' unyielding, turn on a dime lyricism quickly caught the attention of GRAMMY-nominated multi-hyphenate Nicolle Galyon, who signed her to publishing and recording contracts with Songs & Daughters / Big Loud Records almost instantly. Honing in on a sound that's both reverent of the genre's roots and in lockstep with where it's headed next, she's introducing her take on country music now with a double shot debut: seven-song set Introducing: Lauren Watkins, released in April, and forthcoming six-song sequence, Introducing: The Heartbreak, out Nov. 17. Watkins spent the summer touring notable fairs and festivals throughout North America alongside opening gigs with Jameson Rodgers, Morgan Wallen, Lily Rose, and more. This fall, she opens nationwide tours for Conner Smith and Austin Snell.
