Monday, April 27, 2009

'Song of the Week': Cortney Tidwell-"17 Horses"

Having grown up in and around the music biz most of her life, Cortney Tidwell is no stranger to the ups and downs of the music world. Growing up in Nashville, TN, her grandfather had been a successful recording artist, her father was a veteran A&R man, and her mother had several singles on the country charts in the 1970s, and the family was close friends with the likes of Townes Van Zandt and 'Cowboy' Jack Clement. In the mid-'70s however Tidwell's mom was diagnosed with manic depression, her parents soon after split up, and she passed at the young age of 49. Tidwell gave up playing after a while due to her associating the music with the pain that her childhood brought.
But after a break away from things, Cortney eventually returned to songwriting, playing in a punk band for a bit, before delving more into her solo work, which resulted in an EP in 2006, and her full length debut Dont' Let the Stars Keep Us Tangled Up in '07. Much more than your typical Nashville singer/songwriter Tidwelll's music is hard to classify, taking cues from all over the map, and giving it a fresh spin.
She's coming out with a new disc, Boys which will be released on May 29th on City Slang Records. The first track i've heard off the disc, "17 Horses" is a driving number that showcases Cortney's powerful and emotional vocals. The album was co-produced by Cortney , her husband Todd Tidwell and Ryan Norris, and contains 11 new tracks, including a duet with Jim James (My Morning Jacket). 'Boys' will be preceded by the release of a single, "Watusii", as a 12” and download starting on May 15th, but right now the song "17 Horses" is available on the City Slang website and you can download it for free here.



Boys track list:
Solid State
Watusii
Son & Moon
Being Crosby
Oslo
So We Sing
Palace
Bad News
Oh, China
17 Horses
Oh, Suicide

Cortney Tidwell's website

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