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Americana <\/i>is the seventh album from Athens, Georgia based Lilli Lewis. While the album title might suggest a specific kind of music, there\u2019s something deeper going on here. As Lewis uses the term, Americana represents a kind of music featuring lyrical themes connected to the American experience. The music itself has at least as much to do with gospel, soul, funk and blues.<\/p>\n
Americana <\/i>opens with the stirring, deeply soulful \u201cMy American Heart (Prelude).\u201d Its brevity establishes the track as an introduction to a thematically linked set of songs. And \u201cCopper John,\u201d a storytelling country weeper with evocative pedal steel, follows through on that promise. Employing vivid lyrical imagery, Lewis writes and sings of prophets, citadels and watchmen, all in the first moments of the tune.<\/p>\n
\u201cWrecking Ball\u201d is a statement of purpose. \u201cI don\u2019t want to fight for freedom,\u201d Lewis defiantly tells us over a funky, clavinet-led groove. \u201cFreedom is a right from birth.\u201d And that kind of assertive (yet hard to argue with) statement defines the track. Lewis is only mildly metaphoric when she sings on the rousing chorus, \u201c\u201dEverything with a wrecking ball…tear the walls down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The double entendre\/punning title of \u201cPiece of Mine\u201d displays Lewis\u2019 mastery of language. After a church harmony vocal intro, the song settles into a somber, minor-key melody reminiscent of field hollers. But as the song develops, it takes on the spare instrumental characteristics of country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf It Were You\u201d is folk pop, with a yearning fiddle accompanying Lewis\u2019 wonderfully supple and expressive lead vocal and some gentle acoustic picking. And Lewis\u2019 approach to arrangement places the needs of the song first: her instrument is piano, but if a song is best served by leaving piano out of the mix, that\u2019s the path she takes, leaving her large cast of guest musicians to do what they do best.<\/p>\n
A prime example of that approach is found in Josh Paxton\u2019s buttery Rhodes electric piano, featured as the instrumental backbone of \u201cOne Shoe.\u201d Bass guitar solos aren\u2019t commonplace in blues or Americana, but Kenny Murphy’s low-register spotlight on the track is an unexpected treat.<\/p>\n
Lewis does display her understated facility on the ivories during \u201cFly,\u201d an emotional tour de force worthy of Carole King or Roberta Flack. And she digs deep for the sultry \u201cWednesday\u2019s Child.\u201d Nothing about the song\u2019s arrangement suggests that pedal steel will appear midway, but when it does, it fits perfectly.<\/p>\n
And \u201cEveryday\u201d combines all of Americana<\/i>\u2019s many virtues into a single track. It\u2019s a testament to Lewis\u2019 well-placed self confidence that she places the album\u2019s strongest number halfway through the record. The music is so inviting that casual listeners might miss the strength of Lewis\u2019 lyrics on first listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Healing Inside\u201d features a guest vocal by Lady A (herself an unwitting party to a minor artist naming controversy). The song\u2019s deeply layered vocal harmonies negate the need for instrumental accompaniment, and there is none.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoffee Shop Girl\u201d is a lovely meditation, and \u201cThe Great Divide\u201d is a gentle groove with a characteristically thoughtful lyric. Americana<\/i> ends as it should, with a benediction in the form of \u201cMy American Heart.\u201d It\u2019s a fully-formed artistic statement from an important musician and lyricist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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