Melissa Carper

with Lonesome Heroes

“I don’t think you can get this sound unless it’s borned in ya,” said bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, when asked about what he called “old-time mountain music.” When Melissa Carper heard those words, something jumped inside her. While staying in the country with a friend, she found an old DVD of Down From the Mountain, the documentary and concert film of the “O, Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack that featured this particular Stanley interview. She immediately jotted down “borned in ya” on a piece of paper. “I knew I had to write that song,” she recalls.

In the Spring of 2023, Carper went back to East Nashville’s Bomb Shelter — the same “analog wonderland” where she’d recorded Ramblin’ Soul and its predecessor, Daddy’s Country Gold, and enlisted the help of her trusted co-producers — Dennis Crouch and Andrija Tokic. “Borned In Ya” would become the title track of the new album, out July 19th via Mae Music/Thirty Tigers.

Like much of her writing, the song applies a homespun sensibility — and a bit of humor — to questions about life’s journeys. “I was turning over in my mind what it means to have something ‘borned in ya,'” she said. “The song evolved as I was writing it to be more about having your soul ‘borned it ya,’ and the more life experience you have, you hopefully grow to embody the highest version of yourself that you can be.” “Borned In Ya” could certainly stand as a reflection on Carper’s life in music. “Authentic” might be an overused word to describe an artist’s appeal, but there’s something so natural and true about Carper’s musicality that she must have been born with it: An easy sway to her singing, a precise, but laid back sense of timing. A feel. And, lyrically, she has an instinctive sense for storytelling, both observant and intuitive.

Borned In Ya showcases Carper’s long-standing influences as well as her artistic growth and sense of adventure. The old-time jazz sounds we came to know on Daddy’s Country Gold are back in full force along with the R&B and Soul of Ramblin’ Soul. Perhaps, the least ‘country’ of her albums, the country roots are still felt as you can never remove the ‘hillbilly’ from Carper’s sound. In addition to her familiar blend of country with jazz, blues, soul, and R&B, the new album sees Carper exploring a more subtle and expert crossing of these genres and with a matured lyrical depth. The title track kicks things off with a gospel-style vocal chorus before settling into an impeccably funky groove. “Evil Eva” recalls the classic R&B of the 50s and 60s, and “Let’s Stay Single Together” puts Carper’s crooning vocal to a delightful jazz-tinged country soul feel. “There’ll Be Another One” sounds like classic Roy Orbison with Carper floating atop the bed of ever growing emotion, fueled by the stunning string arrangement from fiddler, Rebecca Patek. “Somewhere Between Texas and Tennessee” is straight out of the honky tonk and “Lucky Five” is reminiscent of an old Frank Sinatra swinger. Carper rounds out this album with covers of two classics, “That’s My Desire,” crossover jazz/country tune from the 30s, and a beautiful rendition of Cole Porter’s “Everytime We Say Goodbye.”

Carper is eager for the release of Borned In Ya, and hopes it will resonate with fans of her earlier work while establishing an artistic step forward. “People call me retro or throwback, and I’ve been OK with that,” she says. “But, I feel like I’m still creating something new. I’m taking styles and blending things in a way that maybe hasn’t been done before. And, in the process, I’m evolving in my own way.”