Country music was and always will be my first love. My parents listened to Hank Williams, Buck Owens & Johnny Cash records when I was very young and I happily took to it. The honest soul baring that happens in Country songs is what always gets to me.
With that said, Country singer-songwriter Jessi Alexander has a new record “Decatur County Red” that was just released and is definitely worth checking out. Jessi has written songs for Black Shelton, Trisha Yearwood & Little Big Town. She also co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ top 5 hit “The Climb” and the heart tugging “I Drive Your Truck” which went to number one for Lee Brice.
Alexander’s husband is Nashville song man and singer Jon Randall. With Bill Anderson, Randall co-wrote the Brad Paisley hit “Whiskey Lullaby” among others. Needless to say Jessi and Jon’s marriage is loaded with song power!
So we travel on to “Decatur County Red.” The lead single “Mama Drank” is SO fitting for our current Coronavirus infected lifestyle which has shut us down fast. People are out of work or struggling to work and keeping their heads above water during the most uncertain of times while trying to stay healthy. And yes, men too can relate to “Mama Drank.” The best tie-in to today’s happenings is found in these words:
“HOLDING IT TOGETHER HOPING WORSE GETS BETTER AND THERE’S STILL MONEY IN THE BANK, NOW I KNOW WHY MY MAMA DRANK“
The title track “Decatur County Red” is another as “country” a song as you can get and I’m just starting to delve into the rest of the record. Recently, Alexander told Billboard magazine, “All the songs are a really good representation of who I am, but the title track is autobiographical. Those words, every single word is true. It doesn’t just encapsulate the music that I grew up around, it also encapsulates the people that I was raised around,” she says. “I hope that when people hear that they feel West Tennessee, they feel the people I was raised around, things I saw, the music I heard, the food I tasted. I feel like all the songs do a little bit of that, but that one especially is so me.”
So if you need some comfort in these weird and unpredictable times, you’ll find it in the authentic country found in Jessi Alexander’s single “Mama Drank” and her album “Decatur County Red.”
NEXT BLOG– Remembering a great Melissa Etheridge concert.