New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Huntington Beach, CA-based classic country singer-songwriter
Victoria Bailey is set to release her sophomore album, A Cowgirl Rides On, on October 6, 2023, via Rock Ridge
Music with distribution through Warner/ADA. Bailey's songs are atmospheric, and on A Cowgirl Rides On, she travels alongside Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and other classics as she delivers a collection of personal, heartfelt songs that resonate universally. Bailey dwells in her songs, drawing out every note of emotion with her vocal phrasing and musical range.
Awash in pedal steel, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar, the songs on A Cowgirl Rides On create an openness into which Bailey enters with her intimate vocals, which ring with an emotional purity that reverberates deeply. "I feel like each song has a little piece of me," reflects Bailey. At its core, A Cowgirl Rides On is a bluegrass gospel album. "It's kind of always been on my heart to make a western gospel album that ties into all the things I love. It's a big part of my life."
The title track, the first single from the album, was released on April 21, 2023, and the song premiered a few days prior at American Songwriter, who called it "a wistful western narrative of resilience and unwavering faith... The heartworn song showcases the artist's classic country lilt and is the perfect vehicle for her stunning songcraft, skills worthy of the country queens [who] came before her." "A Cowgirl Rides On" opens quietly with Bailey's vocals and guitar strums but soon blooms with layers of spiraling pedal steel, fiddle, and harmony vocals. "This is my favorite song on the album," Bailey notes. Inspired by the book "Distant Skies," it's based on the true story of a woman who rode her horse across the country from New York to California. "It's the story of a cowgirl finding so much strength in her solitude," says Bailey. "I was also really tying in my own experience when I wrote it, going through a breakup and finding hope and strength through riding horses and taking risks."
Bailey revealed the genius of her songwriting in the breakup song "Forever, You & I." The brightness of the thrumming music belies the heartbreak in the lyrics, but Bailey illustrates cannily the ways that love still has a hold on one corner of our hearts even in the wake of a breakup. "Forever, You & I," the second single from the album, was released on June 16, 2023, with Wide Open Country premiering the track earlier that week, who dubbed it "a tender reflection on the lingering memories and phantom pains that hang around after a breakup."
The third single, "Snake Trails," was released on August 11, 2023. and the song premiered prior at V13, who wrote of that the song was "reminiscent of Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, or Loretta Lynn... [Bailey has been] etching out her own impressive spot in modern bluegrass and country music." Banjoes and fiddles launch and propel the jaunty bluegrass rambler. "I started humming this song while I was out riding my horse," Bailey recounts. "It turned into more of a gospel song about finding faith through riding my horse in the canyon and all its beauty bringing me closer to God."
While all of the songs on the album resonate with echoes of the gospel, three songs—"Down From The Mountain," "Sweet By & By," and "Waiting At The Gate"—connect deeply, both sonically and lyrically. "Down From The Mountain" opens with and rides along the sonic framework of the traditional "Give Me That Old Time Religion;" fiddle and banjo play call and response in Bailey's spry, old-time song. Unfurling slowly, "Sweet By & By," the penultimate song on the album, floats with a gentle, almost prayer-like spirit, praising fellowship and the beauty of this life and the life to come. The album closes with a cover of Ricky Skaggs' "Waiting At The Gate," a meandering, jaunty fiddle tune driven by gorgeous harmonies. "Ricky Skaggs' album Soldier of the Cross really set a tone of what I wanted this record to sound like," Bailey confides. "It definitely inspired the gospel bluegrass heart of the songs."
Bailey and producer Brian Whelan, who also co-wrote some of the songs, recorded the songs live. Bailey is joined on A Cowgirl Rides On by some of LA's best musicians. "We only did a couple of takes on each song," Bailey explains. "I wanted the album to sound just like I do live." She heard guitarist Whelan (Jim Lauderdale, Dwight Yoakam) perform on a Merle Haggard tribute, and says she was drawn to him. "He's a great producer," says Bailey. Other players included Ted Russell Kamp (Shooter Jennings,
Tanya Tucker) on bass; Philip
Glenn (Show Ponies, Jason Hawk Harris) on fiddle, mandolin, and banjo; Jeremy Long (Sam Outlaw) on pedal steel and Dobro; and Leeann Skoda on background vocals.
Bailey grew up surrounded by music. Her father was a drummer in a rock band, and her mother was immersed in the music of
Cat Stevens and
James Taylor. "I grew up listening to a ton of Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cat Stevens,
James Taylor, and Sheryl Crow," Bailey says. "My background is in folk and rock." She picked up the guitar and started playing when she was 12, and she eventually started writing songs by the time she was 17. Bailey started performing shows around town in her late teens, discovering country music in the honky tonks she performed in, and she honed her craft in the country bars and on the stages in the LA area. Bailey is committed to educating others about folk, roots, and country music, and in 2016 started
Little Folk Club to introduce children and families in her community to her love of traditional folk music and instruments.
A Cowgirl Rides On follows the release of a series of singles from Bailey: a cover of the
Randy Newman song "Rider in the Rain" (2021); "Queen of the Rodeo" (2021); "Skid Row (Acoustic)" (2021); two versions of a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" (2020); and a holiday cover of a song from The Band, "Christmas Must Be Tonight" (2020). Her full-length debut, Jesus, Red Wine & Patsy Cline, was released in 2020 to wide acclaim. Produced by Jeremy Long, Jesus, Red Wine & Patsy Cline was a whiskey-smooth concoction of crisp guitars, silky fiddle, and radiant pedal steel that expertly glided beneath Bailey's magnetic, California sun-kissed soprano. The video for her song from the album, "Spent My Dime on White Wine," was in rotation on CMT.
Bailey's passion and dedication to making authentic country music shines through her performances and her songwriting. She preserves a country sound that has been lost but is now making its way back. In recent times, Bailey has shared stages with
Scooter Brown Band and Sister Hazel, she supported Nashville's Sam Outlaw on two tours, and she opened for breakthrough artist
Jesse Daniel at the legendary Pappy & Harriet's Saloon. She has headlined shows in LA at the Grand Ole Echo, she performed at Docent Fest earlier in 2023 with headliners Jamestown Revival, and she was honored to have an official showcase slot at AmericanaFest in 2021 and again in 2023. Bailey plans to tour in support of A Cowgirl Rides On, and fans are encouraged to follow her on social media or check her website for tour date announcements.
https://www.victoriabaileymusic.com/
