Californian singer reminds you of the days when country music was country music, and that’s no bad thing.
Mac Cornish grew up on the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains in northern California, where she would spend time among the redwood trees and on her grandfather’s cattle ranch. Cornish’s love of music came from her parents’ record collection which included much from the Laurel Canyon scene; the young Cornish being inspired by such luminaries as Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Gram Parsons. Leaving California, Cornish headed for Portland, Oregon and Nashville, Tennessee, however she is now back in the Golden State.
The record, Wayfaring Woman, is Cornish’s sophomore album release, following on from 2024’s Never Made Much of a Lover. Refreshingly in this day and age, Wayfaring Woman was recorded entirely to tape; it’s described as “a Nashville folk-country record that reaches back to her California roots.” Recording took place at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, under the tutored ear of producer Andrija Tokic, who has worked with Alabama Shakes (producing 2012’s Grammy nominated Boys and Girls LP), Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Deslondes and Margo Price. There’s a definite retro sound to the record, that of 1960s or early 1970s country, characterised by prominent pedal steel guitar and Cornish’s aching vocals, the vocals are reminiscent at times of Isle of Wight-based songstress Sorrel Nation. All of the songs on the record were written by Cornish, with the exception of, Lover of Mine, which is a co-write with Sam Talmadge.
The LP opens with the title track, setting the tone for the entire record, with the pedal steel to the fore and lyrics depicting a woman wronged at the hands of a man, “But It’s alright to cry, A man’s love will change like the tide, Take the canyon road, And remember your way home.” Calico comes next, sounding bright and perhaps breezy, although the lyrical content is at odds with the bouncy nature of the tune, it has a particularly endearing middle section shared by the pedal steel, played by Cooper Dickerson and by Billy Contreras’ fiddle.
Alone is a tender ballad featuring strings and more sad lyrics, “So I’ll find my sweet distractee, Oh me and my strange company, But I hope you’ll think of me, As this winter turns to green, But don’t tell me please, This shall be the last season of my grief.” In clear contrast to Alone is I Fear (It’s Becoming Clear), which is uptempo and will get you moving, with Talmadge’s guitar prominent; the is the highlight of the album. While Lover of Mine is one of the singles released to precede the album, Cornish says it “was written in 2024 after learning a hard lesson about fickle men.” It’s another standout track.
Barfly is another of the record’s singles, featuring honky-tonk piano played by Jeff Taylor and a neat electric guitar solo by Talmadge. The lyrical content continues the general theme of the album; a man who’s up to no good, “He’s a regular at that local dive, He’s got a good job and an ex wife, With kind eyes and a smile wide, He always looking for his next find.” It’s a catchy song as Cornish once again masks the darker subject of the words with a much lighter musical approach.
Motor Inn is yet another sad song, as a road-weary Cornish opines about the loneliness of life on the road. Driven by the fiddle of Contreras, Cheatin’ Kind has Cornish rueing another bad choice made regarding a man who has wronged her, “Wandering eyes, Please don’t meet mine, I’m done lying this time, I know you’ll never be mine, I’m not the cheatin’ kind, I walk the line, Wandering eyes, please bid me goodbye.”
(Good Old Days) Don’t Last closes the LP, this time with the theme of getting old, looking back to younger, perhaps happier times and how things have panned out compared to earlier expectations.
As you reach the conclusion of this record, you may feel the need to reach out to Cornish and give her a hug; she sounds as if she could use one. The songs on the album generally come across as autobiographical and if that is the case, then Cornish has definitely been through the wringer, here’s hoping that writing all of these songs will help her to move on, the lyrics can be quite deep, even on the upbeat numbers. As stated earlier, the album sounds like something of a throwback, it certainly has a retrospective sound and feel to it and listening may make you feel nostalgic for earlier times.
