Phoebe Hunt - Nothing Else Matters (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

Phoebe Hunt’s sparse and vulnerable new album, Nothing Else Matters (2023), feels like an exercise in stripping things away—peeling back all the layers to get to the heart of who and what she really is. After years of writing, recording, and touring as a band member and bandleader, her latest recording finds her as a woman standing alone, just her voice and her fiddle. In that empty space left behind, Nothing Else Matters is an album that asks many questions, the most central being, “Is this enough? Am I enough?”

Whereas the fiddle and voice are often the final elements, or icing on the cake of a full band recording, this project explores what it sounds like when the fiddle and vocals represent the whole cake. Drawing from 30 years spent studying the violin/fiddle, Hunt interweaves her classical upbringing with Appalachian Old Time, Texas Swing, and a maturity of songwriting that creates an unfiltered, raw expression dripping with palpable vulnerability.

“With a twang in her voice and her trademark energetic fiddling, Texas singer-songwriter Phoebe Hunt tells the story of a woman who is determined to make her own way in the world.” — NPR

"Why fiddle and voice? They say the fiddle is the instrument that most resembles the human voice. It's like I get to sing three part harmony with myself, preparing to be able to play the songs with others. I have played violin as long as I can remember… it changed to fiddle in college after being inspired by so many great fiddle players I ran into at camps and festivals. About a decade ago, when I first heard Bruce Molsky, I remember vividly listening to his album, Soon Be Time over and over, and then going down a rabbit hole to watch videos of him playing and singing at the same time. Then, as I saw others perform in this way, notably Tim O'Brien, Laura Cortese, it would continually floor me. The way the two voices weave as one. The threads of the double stops often accounted for two unique voices, lifting the authenticity of the lyrics. I could feel the lyrics, so vulnerable and exposed, cut through. I was scared to perform this way for years, finally giving it a go in a situation where I was asked to perform and my band members were unavailable. I have always felt that as a musician I want to have strength as a collaborator… Now I am realizing that requires a musician to be able to carry the song alone. If you can feel the groove, the chords, the melody and the meaning all at once, then it makes it easier for others to connect to the song, and lift it up. How is this album a natural progression for you at this point in your career? For years, I have been fortunate enough to play with some extremely talented collaborators. My hope is that never ends, and that this album gives me the chance to learn how to stand firmly on my own two feet, rooted in the song in my heart, calling in friends and collaborators with the resonance of my spirit as naturally as they appear in my life. (Phoebe Hunt)

Tracklist:
01. Nothing Else Matters
02. The Archer
03. Galloping
04. Molly, My Dear!
05. Walls
06. Carry On
07. I Am Not A Traveler
08. Contented
09. Who I'm Meant to Be
10. Get Along Lil' Doggies
11. Earthly Syndication


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