Alecia Nugent - Little Girl...A Big Four-Lane (CD)

Acoustic country w/ considerable mainstream appeal

By Joe  Aug 27, 2006

Pros: Good songs come from reputable Nashville writers; First-rate accompaniment

Cons: -

Playing Time – 46:29 -- Alecia Nugent, from Deville, La., joined her family band “Southland Bluegrass” in 1988 at age of 16. In 2001, under the name Alecia McRight, she released her debut solo album produced by Carl Jackson. In 2002, she signed wi...th Rounder Records. “A Little Girl…a Big Four-Lane,” also produced by Jackson, is an excursion into acoustic country with considerable mainstream appeal. The songs come from reputable Nashville writers, including Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Ronnie Bowman, Dixie and Tom T. Hall, and others. Touched personally by these songs, she feels they capture her own emotions and she can relate to them. The supporting accompaniment is similarly first-rate with top session men Carl Jackson, Andy Falco, Rob Ickes, Adam Steffey, Jim Van Cleve, Steve Sutton, Kevin Grantt, and Tony Creasman. Nugent delivers her lyrics with convincing emotion, and every note falls right into place. She gets accolades for covering many musical moods. Her no-holds-barred approach is best captured in the driving “Too Good To Be True” and “Breaking New Ground,” while she croons with heartbroken intensity on the ¾-time “A Dozen White Roses.” In a country duet with Bradley Walker, “When It Comes Down To Us” professes a strong love but also expects a certain amount of reciprocity. Alecia gets visceral with the bluesy “Muddy River,” and her delicate, subtle voicing is most apparent on “God Knows What” and “Where His Wheels Left The Road.” Bluegrass gospel gets the nod with “Meet Me In Heaven Someday,” and no set is complete without a sad bluegrass song like “I Cried All The Way To Kentucky” that was written as a tribute to Joe Carter. Joe must’ve been a fine person with a great sense of humor. The tastefully-rendered background vocals are provided by Alison Krauss, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Doyle Lawson, Cia Cherryholmes, Carl Jackson, Jamie Dailey and others. Alecia Nugent has a characteristic voice that will air nicely on radio stations open-minded to acoustic country and progressive bluegrass. With clarity of tone and purity of sound, Nugent’s enchanting repertoire will have considerable commercial success in a market looking for raw talent, unbridled energy and heartfelt emotion. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.) Read more Less