By David F. Rooney
Joanne Stacey is kicking off the autumn with a sweet new solo album — My September.
“It’s old-school country that takes me back to my roots when I was a girl,” she said in an interview. “I had a vision for the album before I started. It’s been a long journey to this point. I really think this is the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Joanne could well be right. Her 10 tracks resonate with the power and emotion reminiscent of country music greats like Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. They are good enough that she is heading to Nashville, Tennessee, this week to record them and meet with music publishers. She’ll also be performing at a showcase event associated with the American Music Fest.
While Joanne wrote all the music and lyrics for four of the songs, she had a few collaborators with the others including Jane Eamon, Terry Fernihough, Dan Demay, Lucy LeBlanc, Heidi and Roddy Love, Charlotte Thompson-Shumate and Courtney Brown Aman. There are some familiar names laying along side her, too: Janine Carey-Bourke, Sharlene Foisy, Graham Ord, Chris Stevens, Barry Mathers, Shamma Sabir, Gary Smyth, Loni Moger, Darrin Herting, Jim Ryan, Jay Swetlishoff and John Ellis.
That’s quite a crew and the result of their hard work is a dynamic and haunting album, produced by Barry Mather of Redhouse Studios, with the power to send you back in time and space. As young boys in Quebec my brother and I had what were called crystal radios that you listened to with an ear bud. I loved lying in bad listening to Tammy Wynette, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams and other great singers on a country music station in Montreal. Listening to My September brought those moments back to me with crystalline clarity.
Joanne said she’ll have a CD launch party at some point — possibly in November. That will be a party to remember.
Until its release date Joanne is taking orders for pre-signed copies of My September at $15 a pop. You can order one — or more, if you like — by sending her an e-mail at joannestaceymusic@gmail.com.
