Lee Ann Womack News – by Lesley Hastings

She recently announced her next album, entitled “ The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone” , and like her acclaimed 2014 release“ The Way I’m Living “ it has been produced by her husband Frank Liddell. This time round, though, they travelled to her home state of Texas for the majority of the recording at Sugar Hill Studios, Houston, Lee Ann saying in a recent interview with NPR that leaving Nashville behind got both of them, and the musicians, “ in a different mindset” and “ it’s not all about what goes down in Nashville”.

It seems that she is eager to leave behind the formulaic writing process ( sadly too often a requirement these days to get the attention of country radio) and explore the wider range of styles which have influenced her and which made her fall in love with trad country music when she was growing up…..” I was full of hopes and dreams and there were no boundaries and no rules”….she says.

Elements of two of those musical styles, blues and gospel, are strongly represented in  “All The Trouble” , the first track to be made available from the forthcoming album. Co-written by Womack and two of her band members it genuinely sent shivers down my spine on first listen, the resignation in the lyrics (  ” the deck is stacked against you, life’s a losing hand”…….” somebody give me shelter, I’ve had all I can take” ….. ),  the vocals which demonstrate not only Lee Ann’s power but also her flexibility, control and emotional connection to the words, and the instrumentation ( the lead guitar, in particular) combine perfectly in my opinion and really make me excited to hear what else is to come, with Lee Ann apparently contributing a lot more as a writer on this album than she has done in the past. Oh and there’s a couple of covers on the track listing too, can’t wait to see what she does with the Brent Cobb/Andrew Combs gem “ Shine On Rainy Day”. Lets hope there’ll be some UK dates next year ….a headline tour is long overdue!

“ I wanted to make sure this record had a lot of soul in it because real country music has soul. I wanted to remind people of that” she told American Songwriter. Amen.

The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone Track List:
1. All The Trouble
2. The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone
3. He Called Me Baby
4. Hollywood
5. End of the End of the World
6. Bottom of the Barrel
7. Shine On Rainy Day
8. Mama Lost Her Smile
9. Wicked
10. Long Black Veil
11. Someone Else’s Heartache
12. Sunday
13. Talking Behind Your Back
14. Take The Devil Out Of Me

Article written by Lesley Hastings