Jess Tardy “Sky City Lullaby” Album Review

You know when you come across an artist or musical act you have heard of and heard of over the years, but it takes you forever to get into their music and go deep? I think that call that being an a**hole to yourself, because you are preventing your heart and mind to feel good and enjoy something. That’s kind of how I am feeling about Jess Tardy’s new record. I had always heard of her, but never dug in deep until now…and lady, I am digging deep!

I mean, at first listen, this is definitely “country”, thematically and musically…I mean, they are country songs. It actually took me a bit to realize they weren’t all originals since she owns them all so damn well. But I guess that’s in part because Jess doesn’t have that ingenuine  twang that so many artists put on for this style of music. There is an extremely subtle bit of jazz inspiration down there that comes out every so often, and I get super excited every time it does. Her voice just fits into this mold that she has created on her own and that’s a beautiful thing.

I could write something positive about every track on this record, but I’ll just give you a taste…

The first track “City of Gold”, and a Tardy original, is great tune driven by a finely plucked acoustic. This is the kind of song that I can close my eyes to and picture the story playing out behind my eyelids. That’s the kind of thing I just fawn over.

I’ll make the coffee, brings me daisies in a jar

There’s a piano in the kitchen, our babies playing in the yard

Dusty Skies is a PHENOMENAL song. It has an absolutely mind boggling hybrid sound of Hank Williams charm and some kind of a New Orleans vibe when it kicks in. Oh man, I am stricken with some nostalgic feeling here. I need to go listen to some country music on an old record player. 10 out of 10.

When the Dark Clouds Roll Away is just a somber, kind of gray day tune…which if you know anything about me, is a perfectly welcomed thing. It has a graceful sadness and longing to it that I simply eat up.

Don’t Fence Me In plods along to the banjo line, slowly building. It paints a picture for me. It really pulls me in and Tardy’s simple articulation is leading me through this dessert of sound and story.

There is an intimacy and soul to the arrangements that I think is a hard thing to accomplish on a record. This is the kind of listening experience you get on an unexpected night at Passim (where the sold out release is on Monday night!) that leaves you astounded and breathless. Somehow they managed to capture that on this recording. Tardy’s voice is effortless perfection for these songs to have new life. It has delicate hints of natural grace, dancing over the arrangements. It’s like, you just know the gal was born to sing story songs. Pure joy.

The record hits the nail on the head with “just enough, never too much”. All the pieces come together nicely. A clarinet and a pedal steel…never thought about it, but it’s beautiful! There is a natural flow to the tracks, everything fits well together but keeps me interested for the duration. Something so many artists fail to do with a full record. I really just enjoy this collection of songs. It’s smart, its pleasant, its just a truly nice listen (plus has contributions from two of my other favorite locals, Dinty Child and Sean Staples).

Check out Jess online at : http://www.jesstardymusic.com/

And go stand outside of Passim Monday night and look through the windows…you may only be able to hear pieces of a song or two from the sold out show, but those snippets will stay with you for a long time after.