Self-released

****

Val Storey has been a near fixture around the Nashville music scene for many years. A distinctive vocalist with impeccable taste, her music manages to be pretty and inventive at the same time on this, her second album. The long-awaited follow-up to her stunning WHERE FLOWERS BLOOM debut, comes after several months of recuperation for Val and her husband, after a near fatal motorcycle accident in 2020. Produced by bluegrass legend Larry Cordle and supported by a who’s who of top players, both grey-haired veterans and young whippersnappers alike, this set finds Val on the genre-bending side, but strongly leaning toward bluegrass and country. A versatile vocalist—she hosts a weekly gospel show at Nashville’s Station Inn and is also a member of a jazz vocal group—the West Virginia-born performer moves smoothly and effortlessly from a fast-paced grassy rendition of a Beatles’ tune to a classy re-interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael to exquisite revivals of Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith classics. She sings beautifully throughout, but the honesty and authenticity of her performances are what make Val Storey undeniable.

Larry Cordle’s Songbird channels both her inner Dolly Parton and her inner Lee Ann Womack with Sonya Isaacs providing the ethereal harmonies. This one glides in its purity, as well as its ability to connect the listener with its emotional pulls. Some tracks include pedal steel and light percussion, like her revival of Nanci Griffith’s Love At The Five And Dime, with guests Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White. Performed with the smooth, acoustic country/bluegrass sound that she and producer Larry Cordle have made their own. Pedal steel also comes to the fore in Slow And Sad, a song co-written by Val, Larry Cordle and Larry Shell. Another glowingly tender gem, this one evokes the 1960s Nashville sound with lush strings weaving in-and-around the steel and Val’s soulful vocals. She rings the changes yet again with her revival of Del McCoury’s I Feel The Blues Moving In. Demonstrating her vocal versatility, she has slowed the song down, with a bluesy treatment—particularly courtesy of the blend of Dobro and fiddle—her vocal has just the right mix of regret and gutsiness.

Throughout this exquisite album, Val Storey refuses to be restricted by genre or a stylistic straitjacket as she demonstrates a supernatural ability to flit between musical worlds. A reverent read of the Tin Pan Alley standard, Skylark, reflects her mystical voice as a piano softly plays along in the background. This shows that the lady is equally at home at the prestigious Carnegie Hall or the down-home Station Inn. Then she takes I’ve Just Seen A Face, a lesser-known Beatles classic, and turns it into a toe-tapping bluegrass gem with driving banjo, mandolin and fiddle with delightful three-part harmonies. One of the album’s best songs, however, is Jerry Salley’s Tumblin’ Down. It’s an impassioned, yearning number; a blissful bond between singer, lyrics and musical arrangement. It’s one where you’ll likely be hitting repeat several times. 

Other stand-out selections include a sensitive and sentimental read of Emmylou Harris’ Boulder To Birmingham, the forlorn Old Heartaches, which I remember by Anita Stapleton, and a jaunty take on Glen Campbell’s Less Of Me. Still, the star here is Val Storey, who not only approaches her work with creativity and contemplative depth, but with great sensitivity, too. She uses and stretches her voice, making the songs feel equal parts familiar and compelling, and showing how moments of intimacy can be found amidst inventive musical arrangements.

www.valstoreysings.com

July 2023