Canadian native Tami Neilson has another powerful album of Americana styles with this tribute to the larger-than-life statue “towering over Broadway like the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown Nashville as she smiles coyly over her shoulder in red cowboy boots.” She was first mesmerized by Music City during a trip at age 16, and was excited to show her New Zealand-raised children the source of her inspiration during a 5-month coast-to-coast trip that was nearly scuttled by a sudden hospitalization. As she says, “We zig-zagged across the country, from the ghostly halls of Graceland to the technicolor desert of Salvation Mountain, across neon graveyards in Las Vegas to driving alongside herds of buffalo in Montana. I collected the seeds for these songs in each place along the way. When they blossomed, there were crossbreeds of Presley and Patsy, Orbison and kd lang- the blues of Memphis, the twang of Texas, the cinematic torch of Judy Garland on a Hollywood soundstage. But, mostly, it became a love letter to my Neon Cowgirl.”
Tuesday: Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl
