New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Whitney Rose can't recall when she started singing Hank Williams tunes because she was so young, her memories don't stretch that far back. But she knows where her love of classic country took hold: in her grandparents' bar on
Prince Edward Island, where she also heard country-influenced genre-blenders like The Mavericks. Her introduction to old-school pop came in first-grade gym class, where her teacher played the
Ronettes and other greats.
Though Rose began writing songs only five years ago and didn't front her first band until a year later, her devotion to those styles quickly evolved into an Americana-rooted form she calls "vintage-pop-infused neo-traditional-country" — a sound so beguiling it earned her opening slots on two Mavericks tours and enticed lead singer Raul Malo to produce her new album, Heartbreaker of the Year. The Cameron House Records release drops stateside on Aug. 21 via Redeye Worldwide.
Recorded in four days at Toronto's Revolution Studios, Rose's sophomore effort contains eight originals and two well-chosen covers: Williams' "There's a Tear in My Beer" and the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," on which she and Malo share a sultry duet so sublime, it could turn the song into a hit all over again. Malo contributes vocals, guitar and percussion throughout, accompanied by Mavericks Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards), Paul Deakin (drums) and Jay Weaver (bass), as well as Burke Carroll (steel guitar, dobro, lap steel) and Drew Jurecka (strings), plus Rose's main wingman, guitarist/mandolinist Nichol Robertson.
Rose attributes her rapport with the Mavericks to their shared admiration for time-tested country and pop. "I'm very attracted to the simplicity of older music," she explains. "It's straightforward: here's a story, here's a feeling … three chords and the truth."
She delivers all kinds of truth on Heartbreaker, which she characterizes as "a classic offering with modern lyrical content." (Do not think "throwback"; her sensibilities bear something in common with, say,
Nikki Lane.) On the title track, she references awards-show red carpets and after-parties, and sings this spurned-lover chorus: "Oh you got it in the bag, your home town must be buzzing/Your mama's probably smilin', wiping away proud tears/If I wear a sparkling gown, can I be the one to crown the heartbreaker of the year?"
With a slinky, torchy "
Fever" feel enhanced by finger-pops, tremoloed guitar twang and a slightly menacing undercurrent, the song oozes charisma — just like Rose, who nails every track with resonant, well-modulated vocals and perfectly nuanced delivery.
On "The Last Party," she pays loving homage to Patsy Cline; the charming "The Devil Borrowed My Boots" — which lays a country-pop groove over bluesy funk — may have drawn inspiration for its subject from a certain
Nancy Sinatra hit, as well as Shania Twain's "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" (A self-proclaimed "big boot girl," Rose often covers "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," and when they share bills, she and Malo duet on "Somethin' Stupid," the Nancy-and-Frank hit Malo recorded with Tricia Yearwood.)
"I love this record," says Malo. "I'm honored to have played a part in making it. The songs are so strong no one could ruin them ... not even me."
Adds mix-master Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Keith Richards), "I should take this opportunity to wax poetic about the charm, wit, and sexy cynicism of Whitney Rose, but that's a lot of words. So I will just say she has the shit."
The album is already earning accolades in Canada, including this Calgary Herald rave: "Heartbreaker of the Year is as cool as country comes — an intoxicating round of tequila shots served with the salt of despair [and] the refreshing tartness of living life, and delivered by a server who can sass, flirt [and] cuss, and seduce anybody in the room."
Those are traits she shares with her biggest inspiration, "queen Dolly Parton." But Rose's music career actually traces to a less obvious source: Judy Garland. During a stint at one of five universities she attended ("I'm a bit of a drifter," she admits), Rose started singing in a Garland tribute act. Her previous experience consisted of high school musicals and occasional wedding performances.
She happened to attend a Christmas party with the tribute's producer; the entertainer was Bob Egan of Blue Rodeo. During his break, friends goaded her into singing. After hearing her do two songs a cappella, Egan complimented her and asked what kind of music she wrote.
"It hadn't occurred to me before that," she says. "I told him I didn't write anything. He gave me a card and said, 'Write five songs and get in touch with me when you do.'"
She bought a guitar, taught herself some chords, wrote five songs and reached out. He wound up taking her on tour as a backing vocalist. That was five years ago. Four years ago, with many more songs in hand, she moved to Toronto (after a sojourn "living on a farm in the middle of nowhere"). There, she met Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donovan, who built her a band including former Blue Rodeo drummer Cleave Anderson. They debuted at the Cameron House bar in 2011; until that moment, she had never fronted a band.
Cameron House Records snapped her up, and in 2012 she recorded her self-titled debut. Her manager invited a prominent booking agent to the release show, which led to her 2013 tour with the Mavericks.
"It was love at first sight," she says. "I had never seen them live, so I was like a moth to a light that first night." The feeling apparently was mutual; the band invited her out again in 2014. "That's when I worked up the courage to ask them to make a record with me," Rose explains, "To my delight, they said yes."
She reports most of the decision-making happened spontaneously in the studio, including the cover selections. "'Be My Baby' is one of my favorite pop songs and 'Tear in My Beer' is one of my favorite country songs, and I wanted to include one of each to help listeners make sense of my record," Rose says. "Heartbreaker is a marriage of my love of the two genres, in their past forms."
For a woman who never studied music formally — not even during those five university stints — Rose clearly scores A's in the college of musical knowledge. And she says she's learned so much in the last few years, she's earned the equivalent of a music degree from the best school there is: experience.
"If you go to universities, you're learning all the technicalities and the basics, but you're not learning how to do a 14-hour drive and be functional at the end of it. But doing it with veterans and witnessing how they handle it is like attending a musical boot camp," she says. "And being on tour with the Mavericks is so cool, because it's all about music. After the show, they're talking about music and I'm talking about music and I'm talking about music with them, so I'm learning about music. I'm very grateful for everything they've taught me."
Rose's musical symbiosis with the Mavericks was a refreshing change from her teenage years; with a sweet giggle she unleashes frequently, she reports, "My friends hated when I drove and got to choose the music."
Now they're more like proud parents snapping graduation pictures — and singing along to every irresistible Heartbreaker song.
Whitney Rose web site: https://whitneyrosemusic.com
