Curb Records

****

A small-town girl from rural Kentucky, Hannah Ellis has enjoyed a somewhat chequered ten years in Nashville. Prior to releasing this much anticipated debut album, she’s penned songs recorded by Erin Gibney, Danielle Bradbery, Russell Dickerson, Carly Pearce, Chris Tomlin, Sidewalk Prophets and others. Appeared numerous times on the Grand Ole Opry, toured as part of the CMT Next Women Of Country show and sung and appeared with such diverse artists as Emily Weisband, Cassadee Pope, Billy Currington, Gavin DeGraw, Dwight Yoakam, Devin Dawson, and many others. The majority of this 13 -song set is breezy, and Hannah’s songs shine brighter because of the album’s easy pacing. What’s new, of course, is that it’s her voice singing the songs, and it places the spotlight on her musical vision, informed as much by the grooves of 1990s country classics as it is by the country genre’s emphasis on relationship storytelling. With her characteristic lyrical moxie and some varied and inventive arrangements and the finest vocals of her entire career that really do stand out, in general the level is consistently high, making for a recommendable album! 

The opening acoustic guitar, swirling steel and handclaps set up the insistent Country Can, which lists off the familiar descriptors of the delights of country music from making the jukebox rock to turning the radio to gold to getting you back home. It is sheer pleasure to hear her in classy country mode, so push the furniture against the wall, roll up the carpet, crank up the music and do some two-steppin’ of your own. She maintains the positive vibe with Us, soaring over a counterpoint of punchy percussion as she lists all the positives in an enduring relationship. A return to the delights of country comes with Wine Country, as she gets to diss all the trappings of the rich to celebrate country bliss of being a small-town girl with toe-tapping country-rock enthusiasm, soaring over a counterpoint of punchy percussion, steel, banjo and strident electric guitar. 

Such songs are broken up by the likes of Someone Else’s Heartbreak, to a soft piano intro, Hannah’s cracked, broken voice, making a break-up drama into a drawn-out, pained work of anguished beauty. The laid-back, insinuating groove of Still, seemingly gently consoles a friend who’s going through a rough patch with a partner, then it gradually becomes apparent that she’s actually warning herself not to get involved with the guy who let her down so badly. She opens her heart with more raw honesty with the vulnerability of That Girl. Again, she puts herself in a third person role as she tries to convince herself that she can handle a messy break-up, but the reality is, that it’s writ across her face like a giant neon sign. 

The handclapping, joyous Home And A Hometown, serves as a notable high point near the album’s end amid several other impressive songs. Soft acoustic instrumentation leaps off into rootsy rock riffs as she shares the best of both worlds in living in Nashville (home) but within reach of family, friends and memories in Campbellsville (Hometown). More rousing revelry is exemplified by such classic selections as One Of These Days and the funky Replaceable in particular. She closes this diverse collection with Too Much And Not Enough in which she confronts her insecurities. It leads with its gentle melody but then cascades into the energetic outpourings of all of her many faults, which, like so many of these songs, many listeners will surely be able to connect with. 

www.hannahellis.com

January 2024