Amy Ray (from the album If It All Goes South available on Daemon Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
One of the great things about being a musician is when the colleagues you admire become co-workers. As Amy Ray was digging on Alison Brown’s banjo, playing on one of Alison’s songs, while also wondering how Mark Lanegan and Duff McKagan’s guitarist ended up as her in her band, those artists were likely wondering how they came to be playing with Amy Ray. All this great company is kept on If It All Goes South, Amy Ray’s latest, which is a stacked bunch of Roots music with Ray at a hearty helm.
Alison Brown’s banjo provides a solid, rhythmic bounce on the gospel opener of “Joy Train” before driving a solid new-grass solo that has the song carving a solid path. There’s a lonely fiddle to open “Chuck Wills Widow” as Ray delivers the truth in ‘even a sad song is better than no song at all’ in a front porch jam, keep-it-loose fashion, which fits a Roots album. If It All Goes South leaves in the audio clips when the band does a re-do on “They Won’t Have Me”. It’s a great way to convey the looseness of the session.
Sarah Jarosz” kicks in on the bouncy, Country Bluegrass of “A Mighty Thing”, Brandi Carlile jumps on board for the ballad in “Subway”, and “Cowboys and Pirates” is Amy Ray laying down some Cosmic Country. Album closer in “North Star” is a little Roots Blues and a lot of Roots Gospel thanks to church organ and heavy harmonies, a big come-together ending for a big Roots record featuring a big musical cast. (by Bryant Liggett)
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American Songwriter - Amy Ray/If It All Goes South/Daemon Records Four out of Five Stars
Amy Ray is on a good roll lately. Recently accorded a lifetime achievement award for her efforts as part of the Indigo Girls, and a proud mom as well, she can also revel in the release of her seventh solo album, a dynamic set of songs that gives her an identity of her own, even as the Indigos continue to enjoy their own success. Ray isn’t reticent about venturing out on her own, purveying a sound that’s markedly different from the approach she takes with her day job, but equally emphatic all on its own.
That’s evident at the outset with the tenacious trappings of “Joy Train” and later, the country twang that permeates “Cowboys and Pirates.” Ray is an astute observer of the human condition, and there’s little that escapes her gaze. Nevertheless, she doesn’t shy away from more tender trappings, as evidenced by the easy pace and gentle ramble of “Chuck Will’s Widow,” the wistful reflection that illuminates “From This Room,” the quiet repose found in “Muscadine,” and the elegiac enchantment of “They Won’t Have Me.” No matter what the tone or tempo, Ray clearly possesses an emotional clarity as well as the innate ability to shift the settings, a skill that results in a varied set of songs that can be, by degrees, both tender and tempestuous.
Nevertheless, Ray finds her focus consistently. She was aided by an impressive list of fellow travelers, among them, Brandi Carlile, the trio I’m With Her (Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins), Natalie Hemby, Allison Russell, and H.C. McEntire, but regardless, Ray’s ability to steer the proceedings with all original material, adds credence and conviction. If It All Goes South may portend an ominous attitude, but clearly the end results demonstrate the fact that she’s steering clear of any perilous possibilities.
Folk Alley - Album Review: Amy Ray, ‘If It All Goes South’
On her tenth solo album, Amy Ray traverses the musical landscape, traveling from funky gospel to Gypsy folk to a hoedown shouter, and beyond.
The opening track, “Joy Train,” is fueled with swampy, funky, chooglin’ guitars, infused by the strains of a B3. Ray rolls through a battered Southern landscape marred by racism, intolerance, and hopelessness. Nevertheless, she testifies to the hope and joy buried in the actions and testimony of those who came before.
At the end of alternating verses, she shouts the refrain of the old spiritual “Roll Jordan Roll,” to gather her community. The tune moves from minor chord lament to major chord acclamation. On the song’s instrumental bridge, Allison Brown’s snaking banjo riffs lead the song heavenward. In the final verse and chorus, Ray—along with backing vocalists Hannah West, Mary Bragg, and Becky Warren—modulates into a gospel-inflected revival of hope.
Ray and her band reimagine the already poignant, beautiful “Chuck Will’s Widow” from her 2018 Holleralbum. This time, Sara Watkins’s lonesome violin opens the track. Before long, Jeff Fielder’sunspooling Dobro, Sarah Jarosz’s sprightly mandolin, and Daniel Walker’s shimmering accordion weave around one another. I’m With Her—Jarosz, Watkins, and Aoife O’Donovan—sing call-and-response to Ray’s tender vocals, mimicking the cries of the title’s whippoorwill.
Cascading acoustic guitars flow beneath Ray’s remake of Indigo Girls’ “They Won’t Have Me” (originally from 2006’s Despite Our Differences). The song moves from its acoustic opening section to a more strident electric section, following the instrumental bridge of Brown’s rolling banjo.
“From This Room,” may be the best song on the album, with its intimate, lullaby blend of Fielder’s ululating slide guitar and Matt Smith’s ringing pedal steel, which converse beneath Ray’s meditative vocals. The arrangement is both sonically and lyrically reminiscent of Jackson Browne’s early songs.
“A Mighty Thing”—a bluegrass rambler with a gospel kick—takes on the hypocrisy of conventional Christianity. Its lyrics call out the ways religious teachers occasionally pass along messages that hurt and demean in the name of healing and righteousness. The gently rolling “Muscadine,” meanwhile, is a spaciously unfolding ode to love, with Ray using her wild-grape-loving dog as an image of acceptance. (“All he needs is a hand that is kind.”)
All told, If It All Goes South is an electrifying disc. It showcases Ray’s lyrical ingenuity, her acute moral sensibility, her unflagging desire change the world for the good, and her captivating way of expressing both the beauty and ugliness of humanity in a song.
No Depression - Amy Ray Announces New Album, ‘If It All Goes South’
Usually when something goes south, it’s entirely a bad thing. But when Amy Ray looks at it, there’s always something hopeful shining through.
Today the Indigo Girls co-founder announced a new solo album, If It All Goes South, with 10 songs that span a wide range of personal and political topics and fold in gospel, folk, and “punkabilly” sounds, according to a press release. If It All Goes South comes out Sept. 16 on Ray’s Daemon Records label.
In addition to Ray’s usual solo bandmates, If It All Goes South features a slew of guests, including Brandi Carlile, Sarah Jarosz, Allison Russell, Natalie Hemby, and more.
Jarosz’s vocals and mandolin are featured on the album’s first single, “A Mighty Thing,” a “whirlwind experience” to record, Ray says, as Jarosz flew home from a gig and drove straight to the studio in the last few hours Ray had booked. The song, which also features Alison Brown on banjo, dissects Christianity’s hypocritical messaging on homosexuality, and the damage its platitudes can cause.
“The best line I have heard recently from a preacher was at a funeral for a friend up in North Georgia,” Ray explains in the press release. “The preacher was so excited about Jesus, and in his evangelizing about Jesus, he kept saying over and over, ‘Folks, you can’t beat that deal.’ I grew up in the church and this was one of the most convincing moments I have ever experienced, the sheer charisma, the glory. But then in the afterglow, I thought of all my self-loathing and years of healing I needed to get past the negative parts of my church life.”
“But,” she continues, “I will never lose hold of the positive things, and all the teachers that taught me about the true gospel of love in every aspect of my life. One thing I know for sure, fear is what keeps us apart, and this song is all about that too.”
If It All Goes South also features a reimagined version of the Indigo Girls song “They Won’t Have Me.”
In addition to Ray, The Amy Ray Band members on this album are guitarist Jeff Fielder, keyboardist Daniel Walker, pedal steel player Matt Smith, Adrian Carter on fiddle and guitar, bassist Kerry Brooks, and drummer Jim Brock, with Alison Brown on banjo.
“My band and I have been driving around in a van together for about nine years now, so at this point we’re like family,” Ray says. “We’re all so loyal to each other and to the project, and everybody’s doing it for the love of it. For us it’s about carrying your own amp, putting on your own show, and being proud at the end of the night that you were able to achieve something. None of us ever wants to get too comfortable — it’s always about the act of trying.”
You can watch them try (!!!) at three album release shows in September: Sept. 21 in Asheville, North Carolina; Sept. 22 at Atlanta’s Fox Theater (opening for Brandi Carlile); and Sept. 23 in Franklin, Tennessee.
Georgia On My Mind
5/10/22 - The Ryman - 7:30pm
Song Premier: Amy Ray "Chuck Will's Widow"
New Single! Chuck Will's Widow
The new single, “Chuck Will’s Widow”, from Amy Ray Band, is a song inspired by a bird’s song - the incessant mournful melody of the Chuck-will’s-widow, a nocturnal bird in the southeastern United States. In the song she penned, Amy imagines the aching in the heart of the bird as it sings for its lost mate, and celebrates the healing act of singing your song “all night long,” and accepting what the days throw your way.
A self-described, night owl, Amy says, “The songs of the Chuck-will’s-widow, along with its fellow Nightjar, the Whip-poor-will have always haunted me, their relentless, compelling exchange happens all night when the summer comes to my neck of the woods. I find that I witness the most profound moments in the midst of their songs when everyone else is asleep. While I am often in need of rest, the respite I find in being awake under a miraculous and melodic night sky is too tempting for me to sleep. It’s a conundrum that inspires me, but also leaves me bleary-eyed.”
“Chuck Will’s Widow” is a straight-up americana-country song, and was recorded with her band remotely in their respective homes. The song was produced by Brian Speiser and mixed by Bobby Tis who both helped create Amy’s most recent country release, Holler. Bobby and Brian hail from the ranks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Amy says, “I laid down a scratch track of electric guitar and singing, then we built this one from a foundation of Jim Brock’s drums and percussion, with Kerry Brooks’ bass. The rhythm track was important to get right, it had to feel sad and happy at the same time…ha ha…that’s my sweet spot. The first melodic instrument for us to play off of was Dan Walker’s accordion riff, then we added Matt Smith’s pedal steel. I put some mandolin and acoustic guitar down and sang a final vocal track, then we had Jeff Fielder record last. He usually goes first, so it was a lot of experimentation for him to find which instruments he wanted to play. We came around to both the dobro and electric guitar being what the song needed. We always had in mind what we wanted for harmonies, using both The Band’s version of Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” and the classic record, Trio from Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt as inspiration. Georgia singer, Michelle Malone was a perfect fit for this. Then I asked my heroes Tanya and Michael Trotter from The War and Treaty, to give us the other two harmony parts to make it complete.”
Opener's for upcoming shows!
I am so excited about who is jumping on board to play my upcoming Amy Ray Band shows!!! In Durham, NC, S.G. Goodman is going to be our special guest at Motorco on July 31st. I have been listening to her recent record for a while and am so psyched to get to see her play! AND I just got turned onto the music of Daphne Willis and she will be opening our show in Asheville, NC at Salvage Station on August 1st.
Wednesday Jun 9 2021 7:00pm - 8:00pm: A Singing Army - Virtual Conversation with the Author Kim Ruehl and Amy Ray
For this exciting event we are pleased to welcome celebrated author Kim Ruehl and Amy Ray of the Grammy-award winning folk duo Indigo Girls to discuss Ruehl's book A Singing Army: Zilphia Horton and the Highlander Folk School. A Singing Army is the first biography of musician and activist Zilphia Horton who inspired thousands of working people and left a legacy that changed the world.
Register here ---> (Google Form) and a Zoom link will be sent to you closer to the event date. Folks who attend the event will be entered into a chance to win a copy of Brandi Carlile's memoir, Broken Horses!