If you’re looking for a singer-songwriter whose words and voice sit well within a tradition of honest, straightforward country storytelling, then look no further because it is Laurelyn Dossett that you are looking for. You may know her songs already; they’ve been recorded by the likes of Levon Helm and The Carolina Chocolate Drops, but finally, after three decades of songcrafting, Laurelyn Dossett is releasing her debut solo album, with the likely response being “why the long wait?” Well, it is, as is so often observed, what it is.
Believe Me is taken from the album How Many Moons, which will be released on August 28th via Sycamore Road. It was produced by M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, who says, “Laurelyn Dossett is a songwriter and human that I find immensely inspiring. A survivor and a wonderer. I know she has played a huge part in the lives of so many creative people, and I’m honored to have played a part in her new album.”
Dossett assembled players including Charly Lowry, artist and activist of the Lumbee and Tuscarora, who lends her vocals to The Vision And The Call; he incredible Stephanie Coleman, a Brooklyn fiddler and musical partner of Nora Brown, whose worked with everyone from Rhiannon Giddens and Aoife O’Donovan to Béla Fleck; pedal steel legend DaShawn Hickman; jazz/folk bassist Jason Sypher, whose list of notables includes Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, and Clarence Gatemouth Brown, among many others; drummer Nick Falk (Molly Tuttle, The Wood Brothers, CAAMP and Hiss Golden Messenger); Riley Baugus (Willie Nelson, Alison Kraus and Robert Plant) and M.C. Taylor, who pitched in on acoustic/electric guitars and mandolin when not behind the boards acting as producer.
Dossett says, “The musicians on this project are so much more than ‘guest artists’ – they are family. Most of them have been dear friends and collaborators on multiple projects for years; it was like a reunion to get together and make these songs sing. The glue for all of it was producer M.C. Taylor’s vision and sensibility; it’s like he blew some magic fairy dust over the songs and they came to life. And my actual family makes an appearance on ‘Glory Glory’, all of the women; my daughters, nieces, sisters-in-law, and aunts got together on the lakehouse porch last summer and sang the chorus. My angel band.”
