Singer-songwriter Francesca Brown has one of those “hurts-so-good” voices, a voice sandwiched betwixt and between Patsy Cline and Linda Ronstadt – twangy, drawling, and oh so deliciously country with a splash of Zumiez-modern tossed in for relish.
Her latest release is called “Hashslingin’ Blues,” a song about waitressing, a profession Brown began as a teenager because of a thorny home life that pretty much compelled her to raise herself.
“Waitressing was my financial stability, but I also had my dreams,” she says. “I never expected to be working in restaurants this long.”
In 2012, her sister died, followed by her mother’s diagnosis of cancer, two devastating events powerful enough to bring most people to their knees. Yet Brown persevered through the heartache, using her music as a Mae West. Releasing her debut LP, Collide, in 2016, she followed one year later with an EP, Whiskey Barrel Blues, followed by the single “Honey I’m A Woman.”
Her music attracted attention, receiving beau coup airplay on KCSN and Nick Harcourt’s 9 O’Clock News. Independent, in the best sense of the word, and resilient as steel Brown meets life head-on, not backing down or sidestepping obstacles.
“I see that there is such a deep fear for women to really unwind and just be, the way a man can,” Brown says. “I really try to speak my truth as a woman, even if it’s ugly and vulgar. It’s more important to be strong and empowered than to be accepted as pretty and delicate.”
“Hashslingin’ Blues” opens on Brown’s scrumptiously twang-inflected tones, as a crying steel guitar infuses the tune with languid melancholic colors. The measured rhythm rides a creamy, undulating surface, tantalizing and vibrating on a throbbing bassline and crisp drums.
Brown’s lilting drawl, nuanced by yummy old-school country timbres, imbues the lyrics with velvety yodeling textures, as she delivers her melodic digitus medius to hashslingin’ with sonic charisma.
“I’m throwing this apron to the wind / You can keep my pen and pad / No more ponytails / No more buns / Gonna let my hair hang down.”
Francesca Brown definitely has it going on! “Hashslingin’ Blues” delivers stylish country flavors crowned by Brown’s alluring voice.
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