Coco O'Connor

According to CoCo O'Connor, she was too rebellious for Nashville in her previous time in the city. After some time in Santa Fe, she has moved back to Nashville and recorded This Ol' War, which shows that she doesn't want to record the pop-country Nashville manufactures en masse.

It doesn't take long to figure out that O'Connor can tell a pretty good story. "Daddy's Arms" is the kind of song that any dad would love to have written about him - especially when she sings, "When the world seems cold and dark, there's comfort in my daddy's arms." The way she presents the song, you get a really vivid image of the dad in this song from his time in the navy to his dragon tattoo. The vocals and melody in this song are so sweet that you can't help but be a little smitten.

"This Ol' War" is a heart-wrenching song about the battlefield of marriage. The melody is fittingly lonesome for the story of the song. You can hear the ache in O'Connor's voice as she sings about the ups and downs of marriage like silence after dinner or just wanting to be heard.

"Crenshaw County" is another song with a good story. The subject of the song is someone who makes shoes. In her work, she imagines where all of the shoes go after she makes them. Without ever leaving home, she feels like she has been all over the world because of what she imagines for the buyer of the shoes she made. The instrumental break is worth noticing it. It features some good guitar work and vocals that sound a bit like a church choir.

O'Connor proves that she is a country artist worth paying attention to. Her voice - somewhat reminiscent of Sheryl Crow - is both sweet and strong, and the melodies of these songs are real country, not some pop approximation. This album contains only seven songs, but it makes you curious to hear more of her music. This Ol' War will be available everywhere on June 8. - Axs.com

The latest release from Coco O’Connor, This Ol’ War weighs in at a mere seven songs but packs an outsized emotional wallop. It’s full of classic country tunes and familiar topics told from less traditional perspectives. And with Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell) on guitar, along with Mike Rinne and Rich Brinsfield trading off on bass, Jon Radford on drums, Wanda Vick on fillde, dobro, and mandolin and Judy Rodman and Jeff White on vocals, the music is poised to be a hit.

The lead song, “Daddy’s Arms”, portrays the pain of military life from the viewpoint of a daughter who’s missed precious moments with her Navy dad, perhaps for decades. Even when he’s there, he’s not.

The album is full of road songs, too. “Abilene” has the narrator trying to find…something. But it ain’t to be found in that particular Texas town. “South of Santa Fe” reflects on O’Connor’s own journey to her second (New Mexico) home. Salvation is not guaranteed in a new town – “You may turn and walk away/Or find yourself and stay” – but the road, and the journey, provide their own promise – “Everything you’ll need/Is all you’ll ever find.” And, in “Crenshaw County”, the familiar road tale is told from a different perspective, that of a factory worker who feels that the boots she manufactures mean that she “walked a mile in all their shoes,” if only in her imagination. Sadly, as she’s never left her hometown, even this sense of armchair adventure can’t last forever – “When they took my job/They exported a part of me.” And the Petty-ish rocker “Free State on Winston” (Google it) recalls a real-life diaspora, right here in Civil War-era America.

The title track, though, is truly chilling, if only because it’s so relatable – the end-of-the-day, post-dinner silence of any relationship past its prime, when we’re all just “livin’ damage.” And, contrary to what relationship experts might tell us, “It’s never 50/50/It’s always compromise.” Still convinced that love always wins? O’Connor’s character would disagree – “For the life of me, I just can’t seem to figure out/Why we love someone.” Devastating stuff, whether you’ve been married, co-habitated, or even been on more than a half-dozen dates with the same person.

O’Connor left her Santa Fe home and returned to Nashville to work with producer Parker Cason at the Creative Workshop. The influence of both cities can be felt in the work – traditional musicianship combine with an open-road feel to offer much more (and much better) than typically comes out of the Nashville factory. The listener will be able to walk a lyrical mile in all of O’Connor’s characters’ shoes. Get your copy, here! https://cocooconnor.com/ - Americana Highways

Splitting her time between Santa Fe and Nashville, Americana songstress CoCo O'Connor makes music that reflects the culture of both cities. With its deep pedal steel, aching vocals, and sharp songwriting, her latest track, “South of Santa Fe,” delivers the type of country music sound that transcends time.

“I have a place 20 minutes south of Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail,” O’Connor says. “Legend has it that Santa Fe will either embrace you or spit you out, and this song addresses some of that notion and the beauty that draws and keeps people there. Judy Rodman, who did backgrounds on the record, said to me, ‘You must live with a lot of ghosts.’ She’s right — I do live with a lot of ghosts. In this song, I just gave them names.” - Cowboys and Indians Magazine