When Grace Askew walks into the room, people take notice. She has a presence, mysterious in a Faulknerian Southern Gothic kind of way. One can tell, while watching this scene play out, she knows she is aware of the onlookers. She’s used to the attention, yet wishing she had an instrument and a microphone between the gawkers and herself. She is a studied guitarist, she writes her own lyrics, and at twenty-four, the Memphis Singer/Songwriter just released her sophomore effort, Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods.
The self-titled album was produced entirely by herself and the members of her backing band, The Black Market Goods, which includes Richard Ford, Jesse Williams, Logan Hanna, and J.D. Westmoreland. Through the production of this album, Askew says the band members’ roles and strengths became apparent: Hannah’s incredible leadership and focus, Ford’s multi-instrumental talent, Westmoreland’s “road warrior” ability to tour, and William’s eclectic taste in music of all genres, all strengthened the unity of the band. Together they took a creative venture on the sound of the album. Explains Askew, “We went back to the roots of Memphis, the bluesiness. We cut it with the slap-back rockabilly reverb on it, the Sun Studios kind of sound.”
The album has also been influenced by the old Mississippi Delta Blues greats which Askew says she has been listening to and studying as of late, artists such as Blind Willie Johnson, Howling Wolf, and Lightning Hopkins. This is all apparent when listening to her album. Her vocals are reminiscent of Shelby Lynne of ten years ago: deep, raspy, soulful, and at times, sweet. There is also a hint of the darkness that Lynne holds apparent in her work: the Southern Gothicism but also a blues esthetic at work. Though most of the songs on the album are slower ballads, the versatility of her band allows the sway between tempos and genres from the upbeat “countrypolitan” in “Tennessee Got the Best of Me” to a slow bossa nova in “The Road.” The band and the instrumentation gives the album huge strength and power, reminding me of a Lucinda Williams album such as Essence in the comfort, ease, and familiarity among the artists; a solidarity that one can hear. I am a huge fan of Williams and Lynne, southerners embracing a southern sound and genre, and I get the impression from listening to the album, that this style of music is much more organic for Askew, less of a stretch than her previous Tom Waits inspired projects. Like garlic cloves, I can only tolerate so much Tom Waits before it is overpowering. Like barbeque, good alt-country sung by a woman is something I could do everyday.
The lyricism on Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods is both thought provoking and dark, showing promise and maturity.
Howl by Grace Askew
Askew is only twenty-four and I feel that there is an entire element to be added to her already promising lyrics by further life experience (also known as the ultimate school of hard knocks), for songwriting (from pen to production) is of extreme importance to her.
“Usually it’s like picking up bits and pieces of things that I’ve heard or that people say or that come to me when I’m driving somewhere and I’ll write it down and remember it. I have to feel like I’m cut off from the world when I write. I don’t like to be around people at all. I have to feel like I’m off in the middle of nowhere, all by myself writing. One of my favorite places is when I’m driving for hours on end, I guess it’s the physical aspect: you’re driving but your mind can wander,” Askew says of her songwriting method.
Her latest work is indicative of a songwriter who has found the right path to finding and exploiting their “voice” as a writer.
“I’ve hit on what I’m most interested in: the darker side of people’s lives and character’s lives, but I don’t think that I am finished finding topics to write about. There’s always going to be new people to meet and new places to venture to. I don’t think I’ve finished finding my voice, that’s the simplest way to say it.”
The album, Grace Askew and the Black Market Goods was released on May 27. This summer, Askew and The Black Market Goods will be touring New Mexico as well as Arkansas. Askew has previously released two EP’s, Wasted Lipstick and Hawthorne, as well as a full length album, Until They Lay Me Down to Rest.
