video review: 'what it's like to fly alone' by courtney patton

So it took me a while to get to this, but it really is damn great - definitely check this out!

Next up, probably the next episode of Resonators as I work on Rhye and Dessa, so stay tuned!

album review: 'what it's like to fly alone' by courtney patton

You know, it's a bit of a shame that I haven't had a chance to discuss Courtney Patton's solo work as much as I have her material with her husband Jason Eady - so let's rectify that, shall we? And the first thing to note is that while she's worked in indie country with Jason Eady, her own lane is a little different than his, less of a straightforward traditionalist and more leaning towards Americana or even folk. Now this means she typically brings a little more lived-in detail to her songs, and while the structure of her writing can feel a bit more ragged and rough around the edges, it doesn't detract from the mature framing and painfully realistic pictures she paints - perhaps not quite as elegant as Lori McKenna, but she'll bring a more direct edge in her writing and delivery that McKenna might balk at, and sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

Now on the flip side to that, for as much as I like her last few records So This Is Life and Triggering A Flood, her production can sometimes feel a tad inconsistent as well, which is why some of the critical buzz suggesting this was more of a country affair than Americana was intriguing. Of course, those same critics were also raving that this might just be one of the best records of the year, full of complicated songwriter-driven stories than more of an overarching narrative. So okay, given that this has flown under the radar of pretty much everybody except the diehard indie country set, I really wanted to give this a listen, so what did we get on What It's Like To Fly Alone?

video review: 'something together' by courtney patton & jason eady

I really need to remember to get to posting these faster...

Ah well, next up is Gotthard, so stay tuned!

album review: 'something together' by courtney patton & jason eady

So I get the feeling this is my fault again in a big way. I mean, I could blame the collective country music press for dropping the ball here - and I do - but to some extent if I was that invested in one of my favourite indie country acts putting out a record, I should have been on top of it. Granted, this is also a prime example of what happens when the artist decides to drop a record early without warning and not having the huge fanbase of someone like Run The Jewels or Beyonce, but we're getting ahead of ourselves with this.

So, if you've been watching since around 2014 you might recognize the name Jason Eady, a Texas country artist who played the sort of relentlessly realistic, amazingly well-framed, powerfully written country that wouldn't seem to have a chance in hell in the mainstream, and while he made his play to that crowd in 2012 with the softer AM Country Heaven, his 2014 album Daylight & Dark pulled no punches. There was a purity to that record's grit and sound that still gets to me to this day, and as such it should be no surprise that outside of... hey look, it's Run The Jewels again, it would have been my top album of 2014.

But if you remember that record, it also had a song with fellow singer-songwriter Courtney Patton called 'We Might Just Miss Each Other', featuring a pair of estranged lovers going to the same bar and trying gamely to avoid each other for plenty of understated and complicated reasons - kind of ironic, given that she's his wife. The two are a songwriting pair, and that's a powerhouse couple to be reckoned with, so I was eagerly anticipating their planned acoustic collaboration Something Together, especially if they were primed to push their songwriting into interesting places to play different roles. The album was announced in October of 2016 to be released in early 2017... and then the record leaked early on Courtney Patton's website, with physical copies now available this year. And from what I can tell, nobody really seemed to notice because not only did I get no requests for it, but it seems like practically nobody else online decided to review this project, including critics I would otherwise expect to be on top of this! But okay, that happens, and I might as well be first to the punch here, so how is Something Together?