Your Country's Right Here: Aimee Wilson Weaves Poignant Stories into Song
posted in: Country • Music News
It’s easy to hear the relief in Aimee Wilson’s voice when she talks about her new album “Unto Us the Sun.”
To create the August 28 release, Wilson composed on both sitar and guitar as inspired by the Sacred Harp tradition. The result is a whirl of mix of traditional folk and indie rock with a dose of spirituality and Celtic influences put into it.
My music is a dialogue with God, as I understand him,” said Wilson of the songs that resulted from the eight-year long process. “It’s a way of getting to something more than myself. It’s this instinctual reaching and listening that’s happening through me.
What led Wilson to that music was everything from the study of literate to working with at-risk women at a
safe haven in Philadelphia. The Tennessee native didn’t set out to write this album, though. Having learned to play guitar at an early age and the sitar several years ago, she has continually turned to music as a way to express her thoughts and feelings. That manifested into her 2004 debut album “Timbers Fall.”
So with her background in literature and her way of turning to music to express herself, perhaps it’s not surprising that the songwriting muse would visit her as she worked with chronically homeless women at 1Philadelphia shelter. Their lives are in full evidence in the lyrics that tell stories of loss, exposure and ultimately hope. Beyond that, Wilson continually talks about how much she took away from her experience at the shelter.
I started realizing what I was learning from the women I got to know there, Wilson said. I had just gone through a loss myself before I started working at this shelter. There was something healing about being around others who couldn’t hide their heartbreak, who could have that honest and courageous conversation. I’d hear something in my head as I was going about my day. When I had a chance, I’d grab the instrument and work it out.
When she recorded the album, Wilson included an array of instruments from the Chinese erhu fiddle to the hurdy gurdy, along with a full Sacred Harp-style vocal ensemble to completely tell the stories.
Yet while the album is lush and full, the completion of the project is almost a surprise to Wilson.
“I didn’t really even set up to write music for an album,” he said. “They were just songs that I started writing on the sidelines outside of my day to day job. But as the songs started taking on a life of their own and growing I just felt like I needed to do something with them and share them.”
Find out more about Aimee Wilson’s release on the Factorye website.
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