Amanda Shires To The Sunset

Nashville-based singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires’ take on Americana is heavy on poetry and introspection. With a breathy, earnest yowl that recalls a young Dolly Parton, Shires sounds commanding on the hurts-to-love-you opener “Parking Lot Pirouette” and the playful Southern rocker “Break Out the Champagne”, while producer David Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton) shines up her more vulnerable side on “Mirror Mirror”. But the closer, “Wasn’t I Paying Attention?”, cuts the deepest: It’s a poignant song about addiction, made especially haunting by the fact that she helped her husband and collaborator Jason Isbell overcome his own related struggles.