A reflective, confident, country record from an artist with decades of musical life-experience.
There’s somewhat of a distinction within country music between songs that are songs, and songs that are tales, and on solo debut album “Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. I”, A. Lee Edwards has delivered a stellar collection of tales. After thirty years of professional music making, most notably with Lou Ford and The Loudermilks, the Western North-Carolina based artist has taken sole control of his storytelling and crafted it alongside a high-quality country band. With songwriting reminiscent of John Prine, “Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. I” is a confidently easy listen, one that can only come from musicians sitting relaxedly at the top of their game.
‘I wanted to make these records to document my life’s work,’ Edwards explained. That life’s work has an undeniable commitment to music, one that truly has found what Heart Sounds might just be. There’s a North Carolina down-home feeling that ties together the collection, one that is noticeably, yet not predictably, evident on ‘Carolina Blue’.
Sonically, the album is a country record with a bluegrass tinge and red-dirt inspiration. Although mixed in Aberdeen, Scotland by John Wood (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, John Cale), “Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. I” was recorded at Echo Mountain Recording Studios in Asheville, North Carolina with an impressive mix of local and legendary session musicians. The overall relaxed feel of the record largely in turn to the talent of these musicians, each instrument played with a kind of comfort that seeps into the recording. With pedal steel expertly balanced from top to bottom of the album, Matthew Smith (Amy Ray Band) and Ryan Stigmon (Zach Top) have laid down a rolling backdrop of steel, bending with each story.
Sonically, the biggest switch-up comes on ‘Get out Get in’, moving into a slight ‘60s rock feel whilst remaining planted in those country roots, it’s a transition into a solid driving song with Edwards’ effortless vocals as breezy as the wind coming through a rolled-down-window. Coming midway in the album, it keeps it moving.
Moments of Willie Nelson-esque humour appear on ‘Goats on Ropes’ where a steady groove accompanies some nice picking. With a slight tropical feel, ‘Mexico’ moves momentarily from the mountains to the beach, demonstrating Edwards’ versatility as a storyteller, with a Guy Clarke feel to his place-based specificity: ‘I stopped in Santa Fe, at a roadside café to have myself a couple waffles and a cup of coffee to go,’ Edwards tells us, keeping us in the conversation. His skill for character development is evident on the reflective tale of ‘John on the Run’, a reminder to think before we judge: ‘before you go pointing your finger, what if it was your daughter or son?’ Edwards asks.
Edwards has made his solo debut with a comfortingly familiar collection of country tracks. Not in a dismissive way, but in a way that suggests he achieved exactly what was intended. Like putting a classic on the record player and forgetting whatever else is happening for its runtime. There’s no difficult demand for intricate analysis, or unsteady and uncomfortable musical experiment, it’s a late-afternoon-sunshine front-porch listen. It’s assured, coming from someone who’s been listening to the outside for a few decades, and is now listening to himself. “It’s about craving real freedom—the kind that comes when you’re finally moving on your own terms.” Edwards comments on ‘Ride On’, a sentiment evidently woven throughout the album.