Ali Sperry

Ali Sperry, when faced with a year of trauma, racial reckoning, and downright worldwide existential crisis, did what she has always done — turned inward and wrote songs that channeled, mirrored and ultimately DISTILLED those cultural currents — distilled is the operative word, here, as she and her producer, Jamie Dick, wisely avoid long-form folk indulgence for streamlined contours and razor hooks that feel more rock/pop than folk, and are fairly begging for a decent car stereo and an open road.

Ali, in her singing and writing, is the people’s champ of the “less is more" ethos. There is a slight echo of Laurel Canyon in the sonics of the record, and, always, the confident under-singing of a woman who knows her words and melodies will happily do the heavy lifting.

Jamie Dick’s production artfully maintains the connective tissue from song to song, and always gives pride of place to Sperry’s voice and truth telling. Raised by musician/Transcendental Meditation-teacher parents in Fairfield, Iowa, music has been a constant thread throughout Sperry’s life and was the driving force that brought her to Nashville in 2009. She is such a beloved presence around Nashville -co-writing, teaching yoga or lending a listening ear to friends in high-end coffee shops or low-end dives … who knows how much the world will be able to get her away for extended touring…..we can hope. Nevertheless, this is a record that should quietly find its way into a lot of needy hearts.