You’d be hard-pressed to find a country singer with a stronger pedigree than Brit Taylor. Born and raised in Eastern Kentucky right in the middle of a small region that has given us the likes of Loretta Lynn, Keith Whitley, The Judds, and Tyler Childers, Taylor is Appalachian to her bones, and she possesses a deep understanding of the place and its people that well serves her new album, Land of the Forgotten.
“This album feels like driving home to me,” Taylor says. Although she has lived in Nashville for 18 years she says she’s always homesick. One thing she often studies on is the “certain type of resilience” she finds in Appalachian people. “If I didn’t have that in me, I wouldn’t still be chasing this dream. The people and the places are always making their way into my writing.”
With her third studio album Taylor says she’s finally achieved the sound she’s been going for since she first arrived in Music City. Taylor has been singing professionally since she was seven years old, when she became a cast member for the Kentucky Opry as one of their “junior pros”. Around the same time she started taking singing lessons and listening to the country classics her grandparents constantly played.
Her vocal style is rich and layered, with notes that trill high as a Kentucky warbler and tonal prowess that is able to prowl low and steady. Her childhood singing teacher taught her how to breathe and protect her voice but insisted that she retain the innate character of her voice, which can move effortlessly from high lonesome sounds to smooth ballads to low growls.
For Land of the Forgotten she enlisted a producer who knows her voice well—her husband, acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist Adam Chaffins. “One of the benefits of having my husband produce this record is that he knows my voice. He hears me sing on tour, on stage, in the car, the studio, the shower, the kitchen, in writing rooms,” Taylor says. “All he encouraged me to do is what I do when no one’s telling me what to do. This record is definitely the most honest vocal approach I’ve taken on any of my records.”
In prepping for the album Taylor did various exercises, including the creation of a playlist for inspiration where she found that many of the songs happened to be by female country singers who were being produced by their husbands, especially ones by Patty Loveless (produced by Emory Gordy) and Lee Ann Womack (produced by Frank Liddell). “It seemed a bit serendipitous. And confirmation that making a record with my husband was the 100% absolute right next move.”
They already knew they worked well together from writing songs together over the last ten years. Most of the songs on Land of the Forgotten were written by Taylor and Chaffins along with Grammy-nominated Adam Wright, who has written songs for artists such as Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and others, and who collaborated on eight of the twelve tracks. “The three of us have a similar life view with a healthy dose of cynicism and sense of humor and that definitely comes out in this record.” Jeremy Bussey, Clint Daniels, Jon Decious, and Pat McLaughlin also make contributions.
The result is a collection of tightly-written, hook-driven songs that often center on the working class, which makes it a particularly timely album. “I think it puts a light hearted spin on some of the tougher things about life. Not to make light of difficult times but to remind us two things can exist at one time and not to forget to take a look at the bright side too and to not take it all so seriously,” Taylor says. “There’s a lot of awful things happening in the world that we need to be aware of and need to do what we can to change it. But dwelling on it and ignoring all the good things around us in the process doesn’t help anyone.”
The album opens with a character manifesting better times with the rousing “Broke No More” and segues right into “All for Sale,” about a woman who is “sucking on a Pepsi and a cigarette,” selling all of her ex’s possessions. “Warning You Whiskey” centers on a character who blames the whiskey instead of her alcoholic husband while “Done Pretending” delves into female empowerment. The title track is an epic in intimate details that takes us to contemporary Appalachia, exploring all of its complexities that are so often overlooked by popular media. “Lately I’ve Been Thinking” is a rollicking two-step that showcases Taylor’s trademark mix of cynicism and optimism and the heartfelt “Queen of Fools” allows Taylor to show off her vocal abilities on a song about loving someone you shouldn’t. “Around and Around” is a country rocker about the American rat race and “Crazy Leaf” is a jaunty look at accepting our family members despite their eccentricities. No other genre does songs about one night stands like country music and “Bars Closing” joins the list of great ones with Taylor showcasing vulnerability and a modulating country chorus before landing on “Bird of Prey”, a poetic slow burner about the way signs and wonders are present in nature if we look closely for them.
Taylor and Chaffins have assembled a who’s-who of pickers including Stuart Duncan (fiddle, mandolin, banjo), Justin Schipper (dobro, steel), Adam Wright (acoustic guitar, piano), Jedd Hughes (electric guitar), Chris Powell (drums, percussion), and Chaffins on everything from bass (bowed, electric, and upright) to high-strung acoustic guitar to background vocals.
Taylor says Land of the Forgotten is influenced by country and bluegrass from the 80s and 90s but it’s also a decidedly contemporary-sounding recording that looks at issues facing all of us today. While she says Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, and Patty Loveless are major inspirations for the record, Land of the Forgotten establishes her as an artist with a singular vision—and a sound all her own. She’s achieved that by deciding to be herself.
“I think all female singers are different from one another at first but then we’re told to conform and fit into this neat little perfect box if we want to be successful. Sadly, most of us do just that,” Taylor says. “At this point in my life I am so over it and refuse to water myself down to fit any sort of narrative. I’m no longer sugar-coating my life experiences to make a softer, more commercial lyric. I think there’s so many women out there who need fearlessly honest songs again.”
Taylor has provided them with Land of the Forgotten. She’s also provided one of the best albums of the year.