Sarah Jane Nelson unveils her life stories in song on latest album, "I'm Not Broken"
Review by Austin Sher
It’s been a couple months since the initial release, but we’re still in love with Sarah Jane Nelson’s latest full length album, I’m Not Broken. Read along with us for our thoughts on the record, as well as some background on the artist as well.
Born and raised in Star City, Arkansas Sarah grew up with loving parents who would flirt and sing in harmony to 1960’s break-up songs by Elvis Presley and Skeeter Davis. Summers were spent with her Mammy and Pappy traveling to bluegrass festivals in their motorhome, the little curly haired girl dancing to the fiddles and banjos, embraced by the tight-knit bluegrass community. Her father’s work takes the family to the bayou of Monroe, Louisiana and the utopia is interrupted when her idyllic home breaks up, rocked by infidelity that nobody saw coming. Her world is turned upside down, and she retreats to the radio, back to her sad country songs, stories woven around her own pain.
In the aftermath, she is determined to split town to make a life on her own terms. In a head-turning spin, a month after high school graduation, she wins America’s Miss T.E.E.N. Beauty Pageant where she is scouted by a talent agent. She puts her college plans on hold, moves to New York and in a few short years, this small-town girl is making her Broadway debut in Julie Taymor’s “The Green Bird.” As if that wasn’t a ripe enough story for a roller coaster of a country song, fast forward a few years, girl meets boy, girl gets married, has children, spinning on stage after stage until her history catches up to her and she’s playing the part her mother originated, blown sideways by cheating. As a newly single mother in Nashville, Tennessee, she turns back to the country and gospel music from her childhood, writing her way to resilience, through the grief, and toward love.
Not that we’ve become familiar with Sarah’s background, in context, the album takes on a whole new meaning. Without a doubt, the album falls under the Americana and Country genre, but with her own twist on things. The obvious highlights here, and we mean plenty obvious, is Sarah’s astounding vocal delivery. If this were just to be Sarah and a guitar, we’d still be floored and undeniably impressed. Considering that the instrumentation is diverse and exploratory, it really added a whole new dimension to the record as a whole.
While Sarah cites her influences as Wynonna, Kathy Mattea, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, I’m Not Broken takes on a life and sound of its own. Coming in at a runtime of 43 minutes, spanning a track length of 12, the album certainly does not overstay its welcome. In fact, as much as it is impressive to listen to, if you really take the time to listen closely to the lyrics, you’ll notice that it’s like listening to an audiobook full of true stories. In a sense, it’s multidimensional in what it prevents itself as.
With all that being said, we hope at this point we’ve convinced you to check out, as we highly recommend and encourage a full listen through. So stop reading and start listening! For all things Sarah Jane Nelson, to listen to I’m Not Broken, and to keep up with all future releases, please check out the following links below.
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