The album was recorded and produced by Ana and the Sentimentals in Denmark and then mixed and mastered in New York by the renowned, Steve Addabbo.

Ana describes the album being recorded with a communal feeling of warmth, or hygge as it is known in Denmark (pronounced hooga, by the way). The songs touch on themes of personal joy and sorrow, inward journeys and darker topics of modern reality.

The album’s 10 tracks all work well together, blending Folk, Country and Americana with a back hand slice of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The album was created during two sessions between Ana and members of the band, MC Hansen, Nikolaj Wolf and Jacob Chano Lundby. These musicians have all played together before around the Danish touring circuit and for American born Ana Egge, whose Mother heralded from Denmark, working on the album in the country’s capital city Copenhagen, was “a bit like coming home”.

Ana is a Folk/Americana songwriter and The Sentimentals are an electric Folk-Rock band. The resulting songs are more than the sum of these two parts. There is a significantly deeper tone to the songs than much of what you may expect from albums in this genre. Yes, there are typically Country moments such as with “Promises to Break” layered in rich vocal harmonies and twangy guitar and also the swaying country beats of “Cheaters and Deceivers”. However there is a darker side and moments of social comment on police brutality, terrorism and violence in todays society which are cleverly juxtaposed with a jaunty Americana feel.

Ironically the opening track “Take Off My Dress” is the least typical of the albums style and has something of an indie folk almost Cranberries feel about it. The album quickly unfolds though, down it’s more traditional, cleverly written, Americana path.

There are intriguing detours on the way, with a Hendrix feel on “Spider” and then there is the Christine Mcvie/Fleetwood Mac groove on the refrain of title track “Say That Now” which for me is the best and catchiest of the tunes on the album. This high point is followed by another, “Still Waters Run Deep” which brings a nice variance, introducing a male lead vocal combining with Ana’s voice and also the introduction of a beautifully laid down Mandolin.

There is a good array of songs here, making for a nicely balanced, consistent and overall, cracking little album. I found it growing on me the more I heard it and different tunes would vie to catch my ear with each listen. Ana has a unique voice which makes the album stand apart from the ordinary and this difference is also highlighted by the partnership with the guys in the band, The Sentimentals, who bring something equally original to the party.

James MorrisF

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
An artist/carpenter/writer.

If a song started playing every time you entered the room, what would you want it to be?
Right now, I’d have to say “Right Hand Man” from Hamilton.

What is the one thing you can’t survive without on tour?
My cowboy boots.

If you were a car, what car would you be?
A 1963 silver Buick Riviera.

Who is your favorite superhero?
Spider-Man. I asked a mermaid on the beach of Lake Superior when I was five for a Spider-Man costume. I got one when I was 20 as a gift. I wore it under my clothes and stripped on stage on tour with Ron Sexsmith in Saskatoon one night in 2000. I ain’t messin’ around.

Vinyl or digital?
Both!

Dylan or Townes?
Both!

Summer or Winter?
Summer

http://www.thebluegrasssituation.com/read/3×3-ana-egge-spider-man-right-hand-man-and-hottest-seasons

Of course there are exceptions, whom I always feel obliged to cite when I get off on an irritable rant like this one. I’ll resist the temptation here, though. You can supply the names yourself, of the ones who’ve been around and are still welcome on stages and in studios, plus the occasional fresh faces. While usually I am hesitant to add names to that august company, I can happily report that Ana Egge and Coty Hogue carry the craft honorably. They have talent, brains, imagination and a solid modernist grounding in the folk tradition, which as Dylan has observed is essential to any would-be composer who picks up a guitar and seeks to write original material. Better than anybody, those old-timers knew how to create a song and tell a story.

Brooklyn-based but Saskatchewan- and North Dakota-bred, Ana Egge has been around for a while, but I caught up with her relatively recently, when I reviewed her previous release, Bright Shadow (Rambles.NET, 12 September 2015). That one was pretty good. Say It Now is even better, at least in part because it was recorded with the Sentimentals, an exceptional folk-rock trio from Denmark where the album was cut. But there are other virtues, such as Egge’s affecting, cut-to-the-heart vocals and her sure-handed, grown-up writing. And then there are those marvelous melodies that lure the listener into repeated listenings.

Six of the 11 songs are co-writes, and another is the sole creation of Sentimental M.C. Hansen, the outstanding “The Girl from the Banks of the Ohio,” which Egge sings in a compelling interpretation. Though the title may lead you to expect that it concerns the female victim in the classic murder ballad, it draws on the tradition of songs, ubiquitous in nations that border oceans, about separation of sailor from true love. “Away We Go,” which Egge penned with David Moss, eloquently evokes the ambiguities of this American moment. Hansen himself sings the co-write “Still Waters Run Deep”; the title is the only cliche in this dark story-song with something of the flavor of an old North European ballad. Egge and Hansen’s “He’s a Killer Now” takes a searing look at gun violence and its consequences.

Among the CD’s charms is Egge’s way with songs (e.g., “Promises to Break”) that feel country without actually being so, maybe because they’re too smart and too original to be welcome in the Nashville mainstream. An attentive listener will notice that they eschew just about very cliche that underpins relationship songs.

Whooo! We got a hot one comin’ in via brilliant songwriter Ana Egge backed by Danish indie folk band The Sentimentals. They’ve cut a whole album together called Say That Now, which I’m super excited about. It opens with “Take Off My Dress” a wailing heartbreaker of a jam full of moanin electric guitar, rock hard riffs, a completely unexpected direction from Egge that blew my hat off on first listen.

Say That Now is a collaborative effort with The Sentimentals adding plenty of rock & roll effect to the rolling hills folk sound Egge makes so well. Even with the amps turned down low, the compressed, reverberating effect of guitars, harmonica and harmonium to accompany Anna Egge’s mountain music vocals pushes her into a variety of ranges and styles. What’s more is this collaboration is trans-Atlantic, recorded in Copenhagen with a full band. On Say That Now Egge continues her tradition of using song to bravely face world events from terrorism on “He’s A Killer Now”, to police brutality and Black Lives Matter protests on “Away We Go Again”, to owning one’s sexual identity on “Take Off My Dress”, “Promises To Break”.

Ana Egge & The Sentimentals wield powerful femininity, the righteousness of rock & roll, and prairie-folk-music storytelling to make Say That Now, branching out with roots music to push talents and tell tales that listeners worldwide will relate to.

At first listen, I thought Ana Egge was an ethereal / world singer with a tinge of lounge jazz. Her opening track with its deep Charles Muench upright bass is cool in a beat generation manner. Nice deep tone in the fiddle playing also and it adds sonically to the moodiness. (There are two fiddle players on this album but the individual playing is not broken down. So, it’s either Maya De Vitry or Oliver Craven).

Dreamer, with most of its lead instrument being the upright bass, is potent. It’s not enough to say that the fiddle playing adds quite a nice dimension to the tune — it does and this ten song collection on “Bright Shadow,” begins – but it’s a tease.

The second track tumbles out with a generously strong melodic country air. Ana sounds a lot like a cross between the great New Zealand country singer Donna Dean and the renown Michigan country-folk singer Carrie Newcomer. Oh and I am not comparing…this is the neighborhood in which Ana sings and Ana is her own woman – no doubt. If I were a disc jockey I would certainly piggy-back her fine tunes with Donna, Carrie and Gillian Welch. They are at home in each other’s genre. It’s like saying The Grateful Dead are similar to The Pure Prairie League. Yes, they’re close — their relationship is similar in style,  musicians, and approaches…but, they are uniquely their own. This is how that compliment is meant to be shared.

This second track is the Bryan Thomas penned “Flat Top Guitar,”and it’s a winner with solid fiddle and vocals, tight guitars by Ana Egge that trots along at an invirgorating pace. Ana’s voice is butterscotch sweet and warm. A real nice tone – sincerity pours from her throat. The fiddles chime like a Baptist chorus with wonderful accompaniment and when the backup singers add their support it is spun gold. This is quite a pleasurable song.

But surprises continue and on track three Ana manages to add to her album’s quality with “Jenny Run Away.”  This is a remarkable rework of the traditional country-folk fiddle tune: “Jenny Run Away In the Mud In the Night.” I began to wait for Ana and her small band to run out of steam but The Stray Birds and Ana walloped me again with the title track “Bright Shadow.”

Crystal clear menagerie of guitars, mandolins and vocals. If you’re blue, stressed or anxious this will certainly cool your jets. It seems Ana has managed to find a sound in her vocal approach that is soothing, and provides an elixir for anyone who is filled with angst. This is quite an impressive collection and I am not half way through though Ana slows things down with the beautiful “Rock Me (Divine Mother).”

It’s a small spiritual-type approach with excellent Ana Egge acoustic guitar with a very Beth-Nielsen Chapman / Mary Chapin Carpenter spirit. Ana certainly deserves to be respectfully in their company.

Bright and sunny banjo, plucking fiddle strings and Ana’s precise vocals frame the cover of Dolly Parton’s always reliable “Wildflowers.”  More folky than the other tunes it is nonetheless a powerful ballad. Not so sweet that it would give anyone cavities, it is sprightly and filled with that necessary emotion that makes it fluid and with restrained exuberance. This could easily become a classic. Emmylou Harris? Gillian Welch? Shawn Colvin? Wendy Waldman? Ah…but they would have an uphill climb to best Ana’s original take on this album. It flickers like a lone candle in a dark long room.

Ana Egge makes her home now in New York City – of all places but she does indeed have the credentials to make music like this. She is not green either, this is her eighth album. She has already worked with Ron Sexsmith and Steve Earle (who produced her previous album). She also shared a stage with Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Ralph Stanley, George Jones and many others. No too shabby. What’s equally great is this collection was produced by Ana with the majority of the songs written by her. Her backup band is known as The Stray Birds and their solid performance helps to guarantee a continued intense and wonderful sound: take a bow Maya De Vitry (fiddle, banjo, vocals); Charles Muench (upright bass, vocals); Oliver Craven (mandolin, fiddle, slide guitar, vocals).

One of the best tracks on the album that jumped out after three or four listens is the brilliantly arranged and played “Maps of the Moon.” Ana’s vocals are haunting, powerful and the melody is captivating. The mournful upright bass just under the surface with the top sweetened with riveting fiddles chugs along. Yes, Ana Egge, at times sounds familiar to those classic female vocalists I mentioned but she is an original. “Turning Away,” is a stripped down acoustic guitar tune with a little fiddle. Ana has sharp phrasing and intensely warm microphone work that pours her emotive words, — if you listen on headphones — right into your head…up close, emotional, personal and quite delightful.

The closing track continues in this fashion – “The Ballad of Jean Genet.”  It features slide guitar and it’s a beautifully rendered ballad with Ana’s Tiffany-rich vocals. I tried to find something weak, spotty, a few songs that could be considered filler, uninspired – but, there’s not a green wormy apple in the bunch. This is all sweet, and ripe for picking. A mature, diversified collection that Ana has tweaked, polished with personality and charm. Will country radio embrace it with Taylor Swift, Martina McBride and the like dominating the charts? Who knows? Probably not.

from Bright Shadow

“Dreamer,” the opening track on North Dakota folksinger Ana Egge‘s seventh studio album Bright Shadow, demands attention in spite of its subtle, subdued nature. Members of the roots trio The Stray Birds are Egge’s collaborators on Bright Shadow, and it’s fairly obvious that they all harbor a mutual appreciation and musical understanding.

“Dreamer” opens with Charlie Muench’s cool upright-bass line; then, Egge’s unique voice slinks in alongside Oliver Craven’s vocal harmony. It took me a few listens to convince myself that there isn’t any acoustic guitar in the song — this could be straight-up cool jazz until Craven’s dark fiddle playing removes all doubt that it’s a moody folk tune. The words encourage the mystery and fearlessness felt during dream sequences to come alive in the waking life; it’s a sentiment that coincides wonderfully with the dreamlike groove Egge and The Stray Birds create.

—Cindy Howes, Folk Alley

The opener, “Dreamer,” is playfully seductive, which is counterbalanced by the meditative conclusion of “The Ballad of Jean Genet.” I’ve been moving away from acoustic and folk lately, but there was something that kept my ear on Egge. As the album built to its emotional peak with “Rock Me (Divine Mother,” I realized it’s that you don’t need to be loud, angry, or sad to make your personality felt (musically or in general). Since her last album, Egge has gotten married, mourned the loss of her mother, and celebrated the birth of her own daughter. These rites of passage seem to have informed the album as a whole: we see Egge as a secure, mellow person who has gained wisdom in the face of adversity. Bright Shadow is a sleeper (at least for me) but it’s sure to leave its mark on you.

http://www.adobeandteardrops.com/2015/08/ana-egge-and-dk-and-joy-machine.html

“‘Bright Shadow’ was one of the last couple songs that I wrote for the record and it’s one of my favorites,” Egge says. “My wife was pregnant with our daughter at the time and all I could think of was this hidden potential/life/power in all of us that’s only meant to come through us. That’s not ‘for’ us at all, except in the moment of expressing it. Like love.”

I was not unfamiliar with the name Ana Egge when, on the first of July, I received a communique from a friend of mine that new music from her was on its way. Four years ago I took notice of this woman with an album called Bad Blood, at first, admittedly, because of its connection to Steve Earle. He handled the production, recorded it at Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock, had Ray Kennedy mix it, sprinkled in both his own and ex-wife Alison Moorer’s harmony vocals on a few tracks, and the backup band included Chris Masterson, Eleanor Whitemore, Rob Heath, and Byron Issacs. All that roots music star power aside, what jumped out of my headphones was Egge’s singular voice, clear as a bell, with intelligent songs that offered stories, structure, emotion, and power.

If you missed Bad Blood, you can thank the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t business paradigm that musicians face in this day and age as they try to be heard above all the noise in the aural soup kitchen. Too often great music arrives with so much promise, only to slide past us ever so quietly. We miss so much. It takes strength for an artist to stay the course, but Egge is one who has consistently delivered.

In 1997, when she was only 20 years old and living in Austin, Egge released her debut album, River under the Road. She has not stopped delivering great music since, and now we’re blessed with her eighth album, Bright Shadow.

Just to get you caught up, Egge was raised in a small town of about 50 people in North Dakota, and she also spent time in New Mexico. Her bio quotes her as saying:

“I was taught how to shoot a gun and how to enjoy alfalfa sprouts and tofu, raised by two back-to-the-land hippies. My folks loved the outdoors and eccentric people; I ran around barefoot and learned to ride a motorcycle when I was 5. I grew up with all the time and space in the world.”

While living in Texas, Egge had offers to go out on the road, and she opened for Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Iris DeMent, Shawn Colvin, and Ron Sexsmith. Later she got to share the stage with John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and – yes, this is sort of weird but it’s on her Wikipedia page – Sinead O’Connor. After spending time on the road. she moved back to New Mexico and settled in Brooklyn in 2002. She still lives there today with her wife of seven years and their young daughter.

Sifting through some of the marketing and biographical information about Egge, you start to find quotes like this one from Steve Earle: “Ana Egge’s songs are low and lonesome, big square-state noir ballads which she plays on a guitar she built with her own two hands and sings like she’s telling us her deepest, darkest secrets.”

Lucinda Williams said she’s “an exceptional songwriter, listen to the lyrics … the folk Nina Simone!”

“An artist’s ability to connect with an audience is frequently and disingenuously misrepresented in their marketing copy,” Mark Miller – a concert promoter and frontman of Spuyten Duyvil – told me. “Ana is a rare exception. She captivates a room and draws all eyes and ears with a combination of thoughtful and heartfelt lyrics, a heartbroken voice, and serious instrumental chops.”

As I’ve listened to this record over the past several weeks, I’ve come to think of it as a very special project. Egge has said she wanted to do an acoustic album with everyone sitting around a mic, and she self-produced this time around. While Bright Shadow is a collaborative effort with The Stray Birds – Maya De Vitry (fiddle, banjo, vocals), Charles Muench (upright bass, vocals), and Oliver Craven (mandolin, fiddle, slide guitar, vocals) – the cover lists only Egge’s name.

Over email, Egge recently told me: “The Stray Birds approached me as fans a few years ago wanting to back me up live at Folk Alliance [Toronto 2012]. We recorded the album two years ago and their success since then has been marvelous. I actually asked them about billing the album as ‘Ana Egge and the Stray Birds’ after we recorded it, but they didn’t feel that it was right. I had strong arrangement ideas going into it, and I think it would be different if we had co-written or recorded some of their songs.”

After they finished recording, Egge’s mother passed away and she also welcomed the arrival of her daughter. In retrospect, she says, the songs on the album mirror those intense and formative life changes. There is a very soft, warm feeling throughout the album, with layers of delicate textures in the instrumentation, and vocal lines that can go left when you expect them to go right. The tight harmonies that are a hallmark of the Stray Birds’ repertoire envelop and complement Egge’s voice. If you need an additional descriptor, I’ll sum up: stellar songwriting with sophisticated string band instrumentation.

Back in May, there was a video from Bright Shadow posted online for Mother’s Day. Egge wrote the song with Gary Nicholson, and in the description it says that it’s “a tribute to mothers everywhere as well as the divine feminine and possibility of redemption in all of us.” Filmed and directed by Paul Kloss and edited by Amy Foote, “Rock Me (Divine Mother)” features simply Egge and her guitar, interspersed with clips of moms and kids from what I imagine to be home movies.

Rock me in the arms of my divine mother.
Divine mother.
Rock me now.

It’s not very often that a song will come along that can repeatedly turn me into an emotional bowl of jelly at every listen, but this is the one: A tribute to mothers. Indeed it is. By the time the Stray Birds add their voices to the chorus toward the end, you can tip me over with a feather.

And I cry at 2:35.

http://nodepression.com/article/ana-egge-and-stray-birds-why-i-cry-235

Her CD starts with Dreamer, a stand-up-bass-heavy number that’s as much Nina Simone as Joni Mitchell. Jenny Run Away has those same diva vocals, but more of a bluegrass feel. Rock Me (Divine Mother) adds yet another vector with a touch of gospel that’s as at home in the Green Mill as it is McCabe’s.

This time backed by Toronto folk group The Stray Birds, Egge has several songs on the album that are more mainstream folk. Flat Top Guitar is the best of those, a kind of musical take on Toy Story 3 with the reminisces being about playing the county fair in the hands of a picker for the Westernaires. The title track features the Birds more than the lead singer, while Maps Of the Moon goes in a haunting direction with Egge’s poignant vocals supported by some strings bordering on the ominous.

Ana’s previous album was produced by Steve Earle, and she seems to have picked up a few tricks she used to self-produce this one. While it would be hard to think of her in light of this record as something besides a folk artist, she’s definitely showcasing an independent view on the idea of being a folkie. That independent view gives Bright Shadow a wider range than most Americana albums.  So whether you’re up for a little sultriness in your twang, or just a good variety, give this a listen.

Ana Egge – Bright Shadow