Unique Texan voice revels in the old-times(y), again.
Thirty plus years of devotion to music and music-making and three albums into a career as a solo recording artist and Melissa Carper here offers up her definitive position statement. With album opener and title track ‘Borned in Ya’ she offers a joyous bluesy, horn-driven stomp which was inspired by a quote from bluegrass doyen Ralph Stanley. The song (and album) begins with declamatory piano chords and gospel-tinged vocal ‘ooohs’, sounding nothing less than Carper is about to preach a sermon. She goes on to argue that you can’t play or sing in this authentic ‘old timey’ way unless it’s “borned in ya” or as she has it “‘less the soul is borned into your bones”. At first indication it’s a simple song reflecting her experiences of and in music throughout her life. However, like much of the record, it carries deceptively subtle depths of meaning as it evolves into an examination of our personal growth through these life experiences and “having your soul ‘borned in ya’” as a result.
Carper evokes the spirits of Hank Williams, Leadbelly and Hazel Dickens during the song, further signposting her influences and the familiar blend of old-timey country and western, jazz, blues and bluegrass that permeates the record throughout. Given Carpers’ lifelong emersion in these sounds there’s little doubt that they are indeed borned in her and that her instinctive songwriting and natural delivery bestow a comfortable authenticity to the album. It is Carpers’ distinctive voice that anchors her to this music more than anything. She sings with an easy yet controlled musicality that is at once familiar and yet hard to grasp. We’ve heard this kind of argot many time, there is bygone hue that remains familiar but there is also an unfamiliar quality that keeps things interesting. She talks of being inspired by the “rawness” of early country and jazz recordings but the end result here is far more mannered than that. There is an almost ‘pop’ sensibility, akin to a ‘nasal’ Teresa Brewer, or the Beverly Mahr of ‘Crescent City Blues’ that sits well on the lightweight material like ‘You’re Furniture’s Too Nice’ and her version of Cole Porters’ ‘Every Time we Say Goodbye’ but can struggle on a couple of the meatier songs.
To pull off the musical variety of these related but different genres and keep a unified feel to the record requires a large crack squad of players and collaborators, with 22 musicians appearing in total. These include co-producer Andrija Tokic, Chris Scruggs on guitars and pedal steel, celebrated upright bassist Dennis Crouch, pianist Jeff Taylor and horns from Doug Corcoran of JD McPherson’s band. As such the record can feel like some kind of summation of Carper’s travels in music, pulling all this together to deliver a collection that she believes is fresh and “going into new places thematically and stylistically”. In truth some of the styles work better than others. The Patsy Cline-tinged Countrypolitan of ‘There’ll be Another One’ is not quite lush enough to stir the soul and the break-up blues of ‘Evil Eva’ is neither down nor dirty enough to deliver the intensity she seems to be aiming for. ‘Lucky Five’ is joyous old-timey western swing with a comic take on past relationships and ‘Let’s Get Outta Here’ is a fiddle and pedal steel drenched paean to new love, co-written with Brennen Leigh.
Overall, ‘Borned In Ya’ is shot through with a warm and natural feeling and is a welcoming space in which to spend some time. However it never really excites or moves us. The best we can offer is to raise a wry smile here or there, to give a little tap of the foot and a knowing nod of the head. It’s not going to change our life but it does make it feel slightly more bearable for 40 minutes.
