Album review: The Highwomen

If you watched the Country Music Awards last night, you may have caught the opening performance by the 'super-group' The Highwomen. With a play on the name of the Highwaymen, the outlaw country supergroup that included Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, the four women who make up the group are a potent follow-up to their male counterparts.

The Highwomen include Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. Their self-titled album was released on September 6, 2019 and has been the most-played recording on my car commute from Walla Walla to Waitsburg. The combination of dynamic lyrical content, the unique vocal styles of the individual singers and the strong unison-singing makes it a great recording to listen to as a whole.

Formed in response to the lack of female musicians appearing on country music radio, the group features the strong vocals of the combined artists as well as guest appearances from Yola Carter and Sheryl Crow. The title song is a re-written version of the Jimmy Webb classic the Highwaymen, but re-writes the lyrics to feature the contributions of strong women from history, including a healer, a freedom rider and a preacher.

The Texas twang of singer Maren Morris makes the song Loose Change a highlight with the wry lyrics critiquing a partners' lack of appreciation, saying "you don't see my value, I'm gonna be somebody's lucky penny some day."

Other treats on the album include the tune "My Name Can't Be Mama" which puts forth a thought that many women may have from time to time, the fact that they love their children and their family life, but at certain points, they may just feel that "It's not that I don't want to, I just don't want to today," contrasting the desire for independence and freedom with the love they feel for their children.

Sassy and biting, the tune Don't Call Me features Amanda Shires, who suggests the subject "call your doctor, your lawyer...call your spiritual guider, Buddha maybe, your tattoo artist...don't call me."

Other songs lose the sarcasm and bite and instead draw on such serious emotions as secondary infertility. Penned by Hemby, Shires and Miranda Lambert, "My Only Child' never fails to bring tears to my eyes as it addresses the subject's child, regretfully singing about their 'only' status singing, "I know you wish you had a brother who had blue eyes just like you, but you'll always be my only child."

The first single from the recording is the rousing sing-along titled Redesigning Women which finds the quartet harmonizing along with silly but fun lines like "changing our minds like we change our hair color," and my favorite, "running the world while we're cleaning up the kitchen." The group is clearly enjoying poking fun at country music cliches while putting the needs and desires of women front and center. The video of the song is kind of a barn-burner, and features the quartet in fire-department turnout gear along with guest appearances from Tanya Tucker, Wynonna Judd and Lauren Alaina.

The soulful swoop of Brandi Carlile's vocals power the ground-breaking single If She Ever Leaves Me, perhaps country music's first-ever song told from the point of view of a gay woman. Written by Amanda Shires' husband Jason Isbell, it cautions a man at the bar looking at the subject's girlfriend and says "I've loved her in secret, I've loved her out loud / The sky hasn't always been blue / It might last forever, or it might not work out / But if she ever leaves me, it won't be for you."

So, if you're like me and like strong female vocals and songs with themes about being a mother, a teacher, or a woman in the world, give The Highwomen a spin.