Prairie Love Letter
Self-Released, 2020
8/10
The songstress Brennen Leigh pens an album about the state line between Minnesota and North Dakota, where she’s from, and she’s brought along the always impressive Robbie Fulks, among others, to help flesh out the thoughtful, articulate song craft.
“Don’t You Know I’m From Here” starts the listen with exceptional guitar from Fulks, as mandolin from Paul Kramer and Jenee Fleenor’s fiddle complement Leigh’s expressive and sincere vocals, and this warm formula continues to the timeless Americana of “Billy & Beau”, where harmony vocals add even more beauty.
At the halfway point, “Little Blue Eyed Dog” picks up the pace with Alison Brown’s banjo fueling the dance friendly, country rocker, while “I Love The Lonesome Prairie” offers a gentle duet where Leigh’s soaring pipes are on full display alongside her elegant acoustic guitar that could soundtrack a campfire. “Elizabeth, Minnesota”, a particularly memorable tune, then recruits intricate picking amid Pete Finney’s sublime pedal steel where jazz ideas are in attendance.
Near the end, “You Ain’t Laying No Pipeline” is a playful, busy roots rocker, and “Outside The Jurisdiction Of Man” exits the listen emotive and bare, where Kaitlyn Raitz’s cello makes an impression in the reflective climate.
Essentially a love letter to her rural upbringing, even if you’ve lived an urban life, Leigh and company will still resonate with their eloquent storytelling and sublime, organic instrumentation that sounds as great today as it will 50 years from now.
Travels well with: Jesse Dayton- The Outsider; Karen Jonas- The Southwest Sky And Other Dreams