Thankfully it seems that there’s no stopping some of the legendary women of country who have inspired and influenced so many artists over the years. We recently brought you news of Loretta Lynn’s 50th studio album, and now Connie Smith has announced that she is to release her 54th, “The Cry Of The Heart” on August 20th via Fat Possum. Connie has been carrying the torch for country music since her first hit single of 1964, “Once A Day“, and this upcoming album, her first release in a decade, is available to pre-order/ pre-save HERE. The lead track “Look Out Heart” (together with accompanying video) is available now and helps demonstrate that Connie remains one of the finest in the business, affirming Merle Haggard’s declaration when he said of her “If you’re talking about a country singer, there ain’t nobody better” . And to quote Dolly Parton “There’s really only three real female singers: Streisand, Ronstadt and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending” (but of course, Dolly, you “pretend” pretty convincingly!) .
Pain and heartbreak have permeated Connie’s timeless country sound, themes which continue to feature by the bucketload on this collection which will be Connie’s third album working alongside her producer/husband Marty Stuart who co-wrote “Look Out Heart” with longtime Fabulous Superlative drummer Harry Stinson. Among the other tracks are two co-writes by Connie and Marty “Here Comes My Baby Back Again” and “Spare Me No Truth Tonight” , a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Jesus Takes A Hold” as well as contributions from Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter Carl Jackson in the shape of “To Pieces” and “I’m Not Over You“, the latter composed with classic country singer Melba Montgomery. Add into the mix the 72nd song Connie has recorded written by Hall of Fame songwriter Dallas Frazier, “I Don’t Believe Me Anymore” and this sounds like an album which is going to be well worth the wait!
“To me, country music is the cry of the heart” says Connie, continuing “We all have these experiences in out hearts and I’m trying to identify and communicate with people so they know they’re not alone“.
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Photo Credit – Alysse Gafkjen
Article written by Lesley Hastings (twitter.com/lesleyhastings)
