If you’re going to sing country or the blues, you have to live it first, and Hannah Aldridge’s story is a classic, featuring substance abuse, failed relationships, and scars from the lashes of the bible belt.
With two albums and many, many miles of touring behind her over the last 6 years, a live album showcasing fan favourites and her ability to deliver the songs without studio production seems appropriate, and a fair introduction for the uninitiated. The album was recorded in London, apparently ‘as a statement of her desire to get back to the roots of why she started down this path’.
For the darkness of much of the subject matter, Aldridge’s acoustic-led renditions of her songs are strong on energy, but also intimacy, and packed with little details and touches of emotion, and her vocals balance guts and melodicism.
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Sonically pleasant, occasionally bleak, but unswervingly human and real, Hannah delivers 12 songs brimming with heartache and heartbreak, and is joined by a number of guest musicians, including her father, Walt Aldridge, who bring different dimensions to the set.
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