Music Review: Jamie Lin Wilson, Holidays & Wedding Rings

By Melissa Bratcher

Jamie Lin Wilson’s (The Trishas) solo debut, Holidays & Wedding Rings, has the trappings of a classic country album: women looking for love and taking it where they can find it, heartbreak, cheating, death, all with a hearty dose of mandolin and lap steel to anchor the songs. Wilson has a wonderful twang in her vocals, and indeed, a dusty road of Texas runs through the songs. The thing that sets Holidays & Wedding Rings apart is Wilson’s songwriting. There are unvarnished truths in her lyrics, and she doesn’t shy away from them.

These honest words lend themselves to an undercurrent of sadness through the first half of the album (delightfully labeled as “Side One” and “Side Two,” something that artists should do more often). The pervasiveness of heartbreak and its napalm-like clinginess is a theme of the leadoff song, “Just Like Heartache.” Pleasantly driving, with creamy harmonies on the chorus, it cloaks sadness in its upbeat music. The low-key honky tonker “She’ll Take Tonight” fairly thrums with yearning because the titular “She” just wants love. That’s all. And hopefully “tonight” will turn into “tomorrow.” Those songs, though, don’t have a patch on the crushing and melancholy “You Left My Chair.” A sepia-toned song with a surprisingly crisp drum sound from John Ross Silva, it hangs in the air, a snapshot of someone’s life and home.

A duet with Wade Bowen, “Just Some Things,” is the cheating song that people need to hear. It’s an “almost cheating” song. Bowen’s vocals add an earthiness and complement Wilson’s lovely, unusual voice. It’s poignant and painful. “Roses By The Dozen” is tonally different than the rest of the tracks on side one. Sinister and clever, it’s a gorgeous way to round out a side.

“Seven Year Drought” features Wilson’s harmonica playing. Her voice is perfectly suited for this cinematic track with an earworm of a chorus and a haunting hopefulness to the bridge. “Here Tonight,” written from the point of view of a dying relative who would much rather make small talk then talk about the elephant in the room, is lovely, and its big chorus keeps it from feeling maudlin.

A trio of sweet tales of domesticity warm side two. “Yours And Mine” sings to the bliss of coupledom, and “home is where you are,” with a delightful, bubbling banjo line from Scott Davis. “Whisper On My Skin,” written for Wilson’s first born, is a tender, sweet performance. On “Old Oldsmobile,” Wilson’s voice on the sustained notes is truly a thing of beauty. Another song of romance in the small, quiet moments of life, it’s magnificent.

Holidays & Wedding Rings marks the solo debut of an incredibly talented songwriter and vocalist. Jamie Lin Wilson has created an album that is intimate and honest. Joined by some wonderfully gifted musicians, her debut is a treasure.

Holidays & Wedding Rings was released on May 19.

Tour Dates:
May 22: John T. Floore Country Store; Helotes, TX
May 23: IN-STORE PERFORMANCE AT CACTUS RECORDS; Houston, TX
May 30: Luckenbach Dance Hall; Luckenbach, TX
Jun 04: The Greenhouse Concert w/ Courtney Patton; San Antonio, TX
Jun 05: Rock Room w/ Drew Kennedy; Austin, TX
Jun 20: Holland Corn Festival; Holland, TX