Brit Taylor - Kentucky Bluegrassed
By Laura Ord
Kentucky Bluegrassed is a masterclass in revisiting a work and giving it a second life.
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Brit Taylor - Kentucky Bluegrassed
Label: Thirty Tigers
Producer: Adam Chaffins
Release Date: February 2, 2024
Tracklisting:
1. Anything But You
2. Rich Little Girls
3. No Cowboys
4. Married
5. Church Bus
6. Kentucky Blue
7. Saint Anthony
8. If You Don't Wanna Love Me
On the first anniversary of her last project, Brit Taylor has released Kentucky Bluegrassed, an eight-song album featuring three originals and five reimagined tunes that marries her unique blend of traditional country with an infectious bluegrass twist.
Kentucky Bluegrassed is a masterclass in revisiting a work and giving it a second life. Hailing from a town right off of the ‘Country Music Highway’ – a stretch of road known for raising artists like Loretta Lynn and Patty Loveless – Taylor immerses each track in tradition, exemplified on the re-envisioned ‘Anything But You’. She slows the song down, allowing her luscious, twinkling alto to dance across the three-minute tune, almost as if it was destined to be performed that way.
'No Cowboys', which questions where to find genuine love in a town of Wrangler jeans and Stetson-wearing wannabes, also takes on a new form, this time though as a classic country serenade. A protest song objecting to today’s countrypolitan Nashville, Taylor breaks the boundaries of the city’s usual polished offerings by employing a Spanish guitar and mariachi-style trumpet.
Taylor continues to inspire new life into a beloved old sound, while offering a modern perspective to relationships, families and other real-life issues. One of the new tracks, 'Saint Anthony', weaves a tale that is familiar and a little taboo, stopping you in your tracks and making you giggle when you realize that, yes, what you heard was "sworpin’". While it's everyday living full of regret, it harnesses an uplifting energy in authentic bluegrass fashion.
After a decade of honky-tonk shifts on Broadway, Brit Taylor opted to make music her way. Taking the reins on her sound has gotten the attention of Nashville, but allowing herself the creative freedom to embark on reimagining a project – while delivering a record that can stand on its own two feet – is what makes her memorable.
8/10
Britt Taylor’s new project, Kentucky Bluegrassed, is available now via Thirty Tigers.
For more on Brit Taylor, see below:
