Hannah Wyatt – “Sunday Cowboy” – Gothic Americana

Well, sometimes, you need to hear something completely different. Sam Chue, CEO, from Washingtones Records calls Hannah Wyatt’s Sunday Cowboy, “Gothic Americana”. Is it progressive, well, it could be if you listen to how different and innovative it sounds to anything else you may have heard, in the past. Is it pure, traditional progressive? Probably not. But that never stopped true progressive rock fans from listening to something new.

Hannah Wyatt, is a local Bellingham, Washington, singer, songwriter and violinist. She will release her new album, Sunday Cowboy, on Washingtones Records’ Recyclable Line of LPs, on December 21st, 2024. Hannah Wyatt records and produces music for herself and other local artists. She can often be found accompanying folks with violin and harmonies, and composing string arrangements for a variety of genres. Sunday Cowboy, will be released as a new recyclable, non-toxic, PET plastic record, compatible with any conventional turntable.

So, how does it sound?

The opener, “Laura”, opens with what sounds like a horse draw carriage or covered wagon moving across the dusty road of a 19^th Century Western movie set. Hannah sings, “Three for a dollar put it on my tab. And you’ll see pretty pennies when the crops come back. Twine ‘round your finger since the winter’s gone. But you never remember why you put it on. Gather your laces in the black twilight. It is cold when the Minnesota sun does rise. Tamp out the fire in the family barn. It is day returning, it is God’s green morn. Gather your laces in the black twilight. There’s a cold winter coming. Best repeat your prayers”.

She perfectly captures the emotions and feel of this era, when women had little control over their destiny, and much depended on fate, for both men and women. If the weather was good, for crop growing, so would the year ahead, have an opportunity to bloom. That would make life less complicated. But winters in Minnesota can be miserable. I remember winters in Northern Ohio and they were pretty bad, but Minnesota is further north. The violin and banjo must have provided a limited amount of comfort and entertainment during these difficult times. Music was one of the few escapes from the cold…and the endless work necessary to support yourself and family on a farm or ranch.

“Aos Si”, is a violin and strings, along with deep bass, instrumental; meant to help put you in the mood and spirit of the times. It has a livelier danceable beat.

“Camping Song”, is full of violin and banjo. Hannah sings, “Lightly floating, glacial waters. Dip my toes in, only daughter. Didn’t catch you, but you whispered. What your eyes saw, and I whimpered I do, I do. Do you, I do. Racing seasons, lost my senses. Lost my bets, racked up expenses. Close my eyes and think of nice things. Think of bowing shiny silver strings”. A fun and creative song of enchantment, with the simpler things in life.

“It Just Won’t Do’, opens with guitar and Hannah singing, “You, you can’t hold me to all the things my hands do. They’re just not mine. I have tried to stop the, put ‘em in a coffin. It just won’t do”. Yeah, at times it reminds me of some of the Americana type songs both the Beatles and Led Zeppelin put on their albums. Yes, there is an old progressive feel to this music, as it relates to the importance of historical reference points. Anyone remember “Rocky Racoon”, the Beatles’ “Gothic Americana” song. Or Led Zeppelin’s “”Hats Off To Roy Harper”? Even progressive bands who created prog classics like “Stairway to Heaven” or “Blue Jay Way”, enjoyed a turn playing some early Americana.

“Sunday Cowboy’, the title track, has more of those wonderful Western background sounds of horse draw carriages, and maybe rivers flowing. Hannah sings, “You’d been burned by fireworks. And left the circus at its worst. And threw your flying knives into the dusty air. You called the big man on his bluff. You knew his secret backwards stuff. You saw the scribbled markings on the cellar door. Oh so come on out, come on out, all you children. Chickens lying on the floor. And faces blink around in horror. They paid a worthy price to get their heart rates up. The cheers they fill the canyon wall. They roar as drunken barkers call. Then rest their swollen jaws inside the basement bar. Oh so light em up, light em up. You Sunday cowboy. Show em all what you’ve done”. All played to slow acoustic guitar and accompanying bass.

“Junebug”, the insect, is a nasty looking, dark black, creature with powerful pinchers that are terrifying. I remember seeing them at the beginning of summer, everywhere in Ohio; and I will never forget their nasty look. However, this song is full of a soft and beautiful Nord Electro keyboard, played by Hannah’s partner, Tim Mechling. The added bass and violin make this instrumental, perfect, in the way in which it mimics the insects slow, but formidable movement.

“Something, Somehow”, is another slow paced march, with Pace Rubadeau on trumpet and Hannah on violin. The story is about Hannah selling her most treasured belongings. Maybe to survive, who knows. Only to want them back, later in the song. It is a Tom Waits like slow dance of regrets. Hannah sings, “I sold my best horse to a marching band. They kept his name but took him back to France. Them and their silly flapper girlfriends. They sat on top and made him march and dance. I sold my paintings to an architect. He paid me half and said he’d calculate the rest. Said he knew a couple Russian friends. Who’d help him out before the summer ends. But god I want it back now. I want it all back now. I’ll scrape together something somehow. But god I want it back now”.

On “Bare”, Tim Mechling, returns to play bass and slide guitar. Hannah sings, “Little bunny rabbit in the old gray coop. How can I be just a little more like you. I never see your softness bare. It’s not hard to let it just be there. But it is for me, for me. Is it some genetic thing I cannot see. For eternity. To crawl back to the beginning. Silly crows all sliding down the rooftop there. Watch and laugh at how they stumble in the air. If I forget my worst moments. There’s someone walking ‘round with them. Oh I want everyone to forget It’s not hard for bunnies and for fish”. A slow, relaxing beat set to Hannah’s near whispers.

“Montague”, is a violin solo full of emotional power. It sounds very cinematic, like it belongs in a movie.

“Three”, is one of my favorite songs on the album. It includes bass from Tim Mechling, and male vocal support from Ivan Sandomire. Hannah sings some of her best lyrics on the album, “In the dusk we watch the new puddles form. In the glances you try to keep my hands warm. Futile natures, can we both just let them go. It’s not for trying, it’s not for anything we know. Hyacinth and honeybee. Fair beneath the willow tree. Baby’s breath and bend a knee. I have one heart, but I’d give you three”.

“Dogs in the Graveyard”, includes music from Tim Mechling, playing that Nord Electro keyboard, guitar, and Aerin Gum, playing flute. Hannah sings, “I found it in my own backyard. Next to boxes and worms and hearts. The dogs are walking in the graveyard. Whatever came of your science fair. The fall weather changes your baby hair. You leap from the top in the open air. Cold September rain. Peel the bark away. Just sit with me and feel”. Yeah, that is the spirit of this entire album. Feel all that is around you. The natural settings of Earth, from the perspective of what is close to you, where you live.

“Ontario”, has more of that slow flowing river water, as you quietly enjoy the soft and relaxing playing of Tim Mechling on Nord Electro. Hannah sings, “Chase all the geese on our front lawn. Look what the wind’s done. To our front lawn. And the tree split in three from the lightning. It’s still got my kite in it. Moths on the door the size of my head. Where do they live now. What’s left of them. Gentle the rocks on my small hands. Today we’ll be fairies. With currency in sand”.

“Keep the Saddle Clean”, is full of Tim Mechlin, playing bass, electric guitar and more Nordo Electro. Hannah sings, “Train in the roundabout. It goes right through the centerfold. Right through. Wait don’t take the dagger out til’ you are in the threshold. Don’t you. Oh ice in my brandy. For my fairweather skin. I want to understand please. Just lie like I’m a kid. Hide from what I did”.

“Cold Like Water”, is another of my favorite songs on the album. The acoustic guitar and Hannah’s voice singing, with the violin, “Count now three, four. Open Indiana, ana release me now. Cold lake water flood in my foundation, dation Lightning lullabies”.

Tim returns with his Nordic Electro, on “Drunk in the Rain”. Hannah sings, “Drunk in the rain, showed you my paintings. It was your father resting in stars so perfect. And you kept me sane, or was it the other. Singing bout Rasputin and shame. Dogs and devils, I loved the earful. To hear your name, to hear it ten times over. And to feel the same and not the other. Singing relief into your frame. Drunk in the rain, left Colorado. I sang your songs on every mile home. Learned harmonies so I could be what you needed. Bought the right whiskey so I could sing it without shaking. Felt my body free, melt off the years of waiting”.

Tim Mechling plays bass on “Easy to Love You”, as Hannah sings, “Little girl I got the answer. Hurts a little but you’ll understand her. Generations staring back at me. Take it in but not so literally. And learn to smile in the morning. And in a voice so subdued. Say it’s nice to see you. Don’t mind the noise. Be careful what your eyes do. And add a patient smile too. It’s so easy to love you now. Widened eyes saying what have you done. Twenty years and it’s not let up none. Little hands inch around and try to cope. Might be ugly but at least it’s some control. And learn to smile in the morning. And in a voice so subdued. Say it’s nice to see you”. The opening acoustic guitar melody reminds me of the essence of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle”, and that was so satisfying.

Tim Mechling plays electric guitar on “What I’d Do”, the album closer. Hannah sings, “Burning sage in the firmament. Read a page to feel where my loved ones went. Timothy, say you will meet me here. Whispered pleas beside my ringing ears. Phrygian, freezing in black lace skin. Fall asleep with the matches in my hand. Lift me now, Peter is at our feet. They’re all awaiting to hear complaints from me. Green sea glass in between your knees. I saw the spiders dancing in that marbled sea. Down to the dock, I feel my breathing stop. Your curls are resting gently on a bed of holy rock”.

Hannah Wyatt’s Sunday Cowboy, is a wonderful journey and experience for anyone with an open mind. I think it is music designed to express feeling, and to provide an alternative to the pop music we are surrounded with in our modern world. It is a fresh break from that standard wrapped sound we hear daily. With elements of film noir, 18^th Century western music, Tom Waits, and yes, tragic and Gothic Americana. When I first listened to Hannah Wyatt’s album, I felt like I was listening to a younger, Neko Case; which was an amazing feeling, because I still listen to Case’s Middle Cyclone. And when I listen to it, I can’t help but hear a Hannah Wyatt of the future. At least I hope so. Sunday Cowboy, is a deep well of emotional music that builds like a powerful hurricane churning; and yet without wind, until it is ready to unleash its full capacity.

Sunday Cowboy, is a perfect continuation of the nucleus of talent that resides at Washingtones Records. Spirited musicians, who have been influenced by different spheres of music than most of us, but with the enabled ability to make it real and accessible. Is this music for everybody? I would like to think so. However, those progressive music fans who want to hear something completely different from yet another Pink Floyd or Yes cover band; should enjoy listing to this album of music; whose mission, though they don’t define it, seems to be to enjoy every little essence of the world in which we live. There is so much we miss every day, while we are absorbed by our applications, social media, TV, work, and the devices that we look to bring us the modern world. Turn them off for a while and escape into the world of Hannah Wyatt and the life of a Sunday Cowboy. I think you’ll be back for more…

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