Arkansas native Erin Enderlin fell for country music after listening to singers like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, and furthered that love with Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Reba. The singer/songwriter, who now lives in Nashville, may seem new to some but has had long standing success, writing top notch songs for Alan Jackson, LeAnn Womack, Luke Bryan, Randy Travis, Terri Clark, Joey + Rory, and Muscadine Bloodline’s current single “WD-40”. Included in her catalogue are award winning singles “Monday Morning Church”, “Last Call” and the critically acclaimed “You Don’t Know Jack”.
But besides being a songwriter, Enderlin also has the vocal chops to back the writing up. She’s opened for Marty Stuart, Kip Moore, and Terri Clark, has performed at The Ryman Auditorium and Billy Bob’s Texas, and made her Grand Ole Opry debut in September of 2013. She also recently appeared as a featured artist on Willie Country Throwdown, plugging her new album, Whiskeytown Crier, released September 1, 2017.
Produced by Jamey Johnson and Jim “Moose” Brown, Whiskeytown Crier is a storybook full of tales about a woman’s experiences from small town America. The album features 15 tracks, with the majority written or co-written by Enderlin and features artists like Chris Stapleton, Randy Hauser, Ricky Skaggs, and Jon Randall. The album begins with a monotone delivery of spoken word, that leads the listener into this tale of woes.
“Caroline”, written by Enderlin, Jim “Moose” Brown, sets up the album nicely as the second track and features Chris Stapleton backing her up with dark haunting vocals that blend well with her sweet southern style. Subtle guitar and violin throughout enhance the song’s story of an affair that left her heartbroken and pregnant, until her father finds out and takes care of him:
The promises he made that night
Faded with the morning light
He just used her and told her so
Left her like trash at the side of the road
She alone would bear the shame
It was early spring when the baby came
Caroline, a secret is the tie that binds
Caroline, he lay beneath the Georgia pines
True love is the forever kind
When her Daddy found out
He went off, yelling threats like rifle shots
I know you can’t be the one to blame
Tell me now, what’s his name
Written by Enderlin and Heather Little, “ Ain’t it Just Like a Cowboy” showcases soft strumming guitar and an amazing harmony of a male background vocalist, that together set the mood of a jilted love; her man leaves her drowning her sorrows and metaphorically comparing her knight in shining armor to a cowboy whose life is never stationary and his love is never long:
There were daisies in a coffee can
Sitting by my bed
“I Love You” written on a note
Beside my favorite cup
His boots weren’t in the kitchen
His old hat was missing from the door
I sink down in that empty chair
I’ve been here so many times before
Ain’t it just like a cowboy
To see inside your heart
Say all those pretty things, start pulling all your heart strings
‘Til your tangled in the dark
He’ll ride on his white horse
Like he’s there to save the day
Ain’t it just like a cowboy to ride away
“The Coldest In Town” (Enderlin, Heidi Newfeld, Jim “Moose” Brown) is a country waltz sounding tune that features a duet with Randy Hauser. The sound of heavy steel guitar, drum, and violin leads to Hauser’s intro as he and Enderlin sing about how a once hot romance has now turned cold. Lyrically, the use of metaphors describing this frigid relationship is top notch and together, Enderlin & Hauser’s vocals blend very well, thus painting the perfect picture:
Turn on the late show
I’ll slip off to bed
We used to make love
Now we don’t even kiss
So I’ll pretend that I’m sleeping
When you turn the lights down
Our loves the coldest in town
If we were a jukebox
Our songs would be sad
We’re a 2-for-1 special on loves that’s gone bad
We’re serving up more misery any beer joint around
Our loves the coldest in town
The album takes a somber turn towards the end with two very poignant songs. “Broken”, written by Enderlin, is an extremely heartbreaking song about the cycle of abuse a woman finds in the present and how being raised in a broken home brought her here. The sorrowful tune is very well written, the violin and soft vocals add just the right touch:
Because I saw in him, what he saw in me
A broken limb, from a crooked family tree
When you got that kind of history, it’s hard to break free
When broken’s all you know, it’s all you know how to be . . .
But she knows what to do to break the cycle –
We had a baby
And though I loved him dearly
So I saw clearly the choice that must be made
I hope that family holds him like I could
It was the only way I knew to get him raised
So I wouldn’t have to see in him what I see in me
A broken limb from a crooked family tree
Second to last song on the album is “His Memory Walks On Water”, written by Enderlin and Irene Kelley, lyrically and musically paints the picture of a little girl’s dream of her father, her superhero, her knight in shining armor, a man she can look up to, instead of the man who is deceased from a battle with the bottle. Te steel intro, soft strumming guitar and the subtle background vocals of Chris Stapleton lend credence to this mini movie clip:
Cause she remembers him like John Wayne in a Cadillac
She’ll only see the best in him, now looking back
So she can finally have a father who’s gentle, kind, and good
She let his memory walk on water since he never could
Whiskeytown Crier is an easy listen with a classic country sound, brilliant lyrics, and amazing guest vocals.
For more information on Erin Enderlin, please visit her website: www.erinenderline.com
Whiskeytown Crier Track List
- Intro
- Caroline (feat. Chris Stapleton)
- Baby Sister
- Ain’t It Just Like Acowboy
- The Blues Are Alive & Well
- Home Sweet Home to Me
- Til It’s Gone
- The Coldest In Town (duet with Randy Hauser)
- Whole Nother Bottle Of Wine
- Broken
- Hickory Wind
- Jesse Joe’s Cigarettes
- His Memory Walks on Water (feat. Chris Stapleton)
- Til I Can Make it On My Own