Homage as an access point into the musical canon.
It’s almost essential for artists at the start of their musical journeys to rely heavily on the compositions of admired musicians. Whatever elements resonate more deeply are carried along, leaving behind unnecessary baggage, and in this way, a personal sound is consolidated. Nonetheless, there is also homage for its own sake, the kind that celebrates classic sounds from a place of pure, disinterested reverence. For their debut album, Amy Melissen and Lee Stivers have put together an eclectic selection of covers that spans various different decades and genres.
Something Tells Me Everything Will Be Alright begins with just two voices, straight down to the essentials, for a bare-bones version of Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, a turn-of-the-century standard recorded by Virginia Liston among other artists. The album is a tribute to americana as a whole, but particularly to African American roots music, including renditions of songs by greats like Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Reed or Kansas Joe McCoy. Both Stivers and Melissen sing throughout, with Stivers also playing mandolin and upright bass, and Melissen adding guitar.
Independently produced with the recording assistance of Christopher Henry at his Noya Mountain Music studio, the album also features a number of musicians who bring varied skills and instruments to the table: fiddle, harmonica, pedal steel and lap steel guitars, clawhammer banjo, piano. The instrumentation changes from one song to another, yet a consistent sound is maintained throughout, cemented by Melissen and Stivers’ expressiveness.
Something Tells Me Everything Will Be Alright is a solid genre-hopping tribute whose relaxed and easy sound evokes times past. Many genres are touched upon, including Why Don’t You Do Right?, an unexpected gypsy jazz gem with smooth vocals and slow shuffling instrumental sections. And as you near the end, you reach the only original composition included, titled $2.83. Written by Melissen, it’s a comical nod to her days working in restaurants, and a worthy addition to the tracklist. The album rounds off with another a capella rendition, a cover of Gillian Welch that brings the album’s circular structure to a close, as a reminder that this was always about Melissen and Stivers’ love for the greats, whether modern or classic.
