Applewood Road - Applewood Road - Record Collector

Sometimes things just seem meant to be. Less than a day after meeting, songwriters Emily Barker, Amber Rubarth and Amy Spence had their first song Applewood Road in the can. Appropriately it not only opens the set but lends its name to the group and their first album. It’s a laid-back thing of honey-harmonied wonder and simplicity. Recorded live to analogue tape at Welcome To 1979 studios in Nashville, the whole process seems to have preserved the sort of close, spontaneous magic that marked that initial session. Buoyed by the reaction to the first fruits of their labour, the trio set about laying down a further dozen songs that make apparent their range and potential. Lovin’ Eyes will surely be a live favourite; its jaunty melody, tricksy banjo and close harmonies making it feel like an instant Nashville standard. Elsewhere I’m Not Afraid Anymore is a heartbreaker; lap steel-driven and lyrically bruised from a failed relationship.