Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life

Originally posted on Instagram, March 30, 2020.

At the risk of my album posts becoming a long string of free associations, my last album post reminded me to write about another record by a different great female country singer, Courtney Marie Andrews' 'Honest Life'.

Before I bought this album at the Fat Possum Records winter sale, my introduction to Andrews was her most recent album, 'May Your Kindness Remain', which I posted about a little while back. On that record, Andrews tackled the subject of America, with stories of hardworking immigrants and dying Rust Belt towns. This album was recorded two years before that one, and while no less powerful, 'Honest Life' takes place on a much more personal scale, with songs about breaking up, going away, coming home, following dreams, and finding yourself.

Those are pretty classic themes for songwriters, but references to tarot cards and tea leaves in "15 Highway Lines" and hints at the title character's bisexuality in "Irene" let you know this is not the same old industry-standard Nashville country music. And the lyrics! Andrews has a way with words that is nothing short of stunning, and there are quotable moments in just about every song. The most memorable, to me anyway, comes in the breakup song "How Quickly Your Heart Mends", in a moment that's classic and subversive at the same time:

The jukebox is playing a sad country song

For all the ugly Americans

Now I feel like one of them,

Dancing alone and broken by the freedom.

Who hasn't been there, in some way or another?