Laura Cantrell was born and raised in Nashville, and even though she was surrounded by country music, she never thought about being a singer or songwriter when she was young. She relocated to New York to attend Columbia University before the performing bug bit her. After graduation, Cantrell worked full-time at a bank, hosted a country radio show on WFMU in Jersey City, put together a band, kept writing songs and started making records. She used traditional country songs as a template for compositions of her own that stretched the boundaries of the music and won her a legion of loyal fans. BBC DJ John Peel called Not The Tremblin’ Kind, her 2000 debut, “my favorite record of the last 10 years, possibly my life.” Cantrell made two more albums in the 2000s, balancing well-chosen covers with her original material, but on her new album, No Way There From Here, she presents 11 originals with only one cover. Cantrell will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on her.
Cantrell: I drove across West Tennessee last summer listening to Valerie June all the way. I loved her Pushing Against A Stone album from last year, with its mix of old-time blues and country elements and stellar songwriting. She’s got a lot of contemporary power and smarts, tempered by an old soul’s ability to draw something beautiful of past styles of music as well. Paired with Dan Auerbach’s sympathetic production, this record was on repeat in my house and car. Ain’t no shuffle play when Valerie’s on!
Video after the jump.
