CMT Blog: Archive

I've been carrying Ana Egge's Road to My Love album around with me for a couple of months now. Her enticing voice draws me right into her songs, which are often soft-spoken and beautifully vivid. So whenever I just need to chill out, this is the album I've been reaching for -- and it's really nice on solo drives, too. The project starts with "Storm Comin'," which builds gradually, just like a mid-afternoon summer rain. Later, "Quitting Early" rises and falls like a relaxing breathing exercise. Egge grew up in North Dakota and now lives in Brooklyn and both locales clearly influence her craft. "Bully of New York" is vividly written about crossing paths with a Central Park ranger with a heavy heart, while "Farmer's Daughter" describes that wanderlust that comes from living on the prairie. Her true gift is being able to write about all this without boring me to tears.

I remember when she put out River in the Road in the late 1990s, we both happened to live in Austin, Texas, and I'd go hear her play at a little coffee shop by Zilker Park. Since then, I've always figured she'd find a champion to help her get her folksy music out there. And finally, this week, she announced that Steve Earle will be producing her next album. Very cool. Perhaps next year at this time, a lot more listeners will be keeping her music within reach.