Album Review – Charlie Marie’s “Signs”

Country Folk (#575) and Americana (#570) on the Country DDS.

There often comes a definable moment in time during our lives when we become the people who we truly are, when we realize inherent things about ourselves, shed the skin of our lived experiences and the ideologies that were imposed upon us by others, and connect with the kernel of truth that is within all of us, and the eternal truths out there in the universe. Sometimes this happens through a major loss, like one of a close friend or loved one. Maybe it comes as the result of serious heartbreak. Maybe it’s the loss of a job, or a natural catastrophe one experiences that activates this experience.

For Charlie Marie, it came as the result of the world shutting down during the pandemic, some personal trauma, and deciding to go on a trip across the United States, just by herself. Previous to this, Charlie Marie had been one of the most promising and inspiring voices in Golden Era classic country indicative of Patsy Cline. You could put her in the very distinct company of performers like Tami Neilson and Kimmi Bitter in her ability to conjure up memories of country music’s foundational female performers.

After her personal transformation, Charlie Marie emerges to not just re-create the past to send audiences on a riveting nostalgia kick. Along with connecting and reconnecting with country music’s cousins in classic folk, she found a sense of purpose beyond the mere entertainment value of music to carry messages that could speak to something deeper. The result is her second official full-length album Signs.

There are certainly still strong country influences in moments of Signs. And if nothing else, Charlie Marie’s voice remains such a stellar vessel for carrying any song from the imagination into the audible world, it feels almost inconsequential what kind of genre you classify it in. But clearly Charlie Marie was uninterested in continuing to recycle classic country tropes in hopes it would result in her finding fulfillment as an artist, or as a human. Instead, she turned to her cross-country journey as her inspiration.

Originally from Rhode Island but well-studied in country from her college years in Nashville, Charlie Marie turned to Boston-based country rock band These Wild Plains to help bring Signs to life. She’d released a live version of the song “Montana” previously with Western AF. The one that appears on the album comes with a stronger beat, and a less country disposition. But it’s still a stellar song of heartbreak. It’s chased by “Ponderosa Pine,” which is very strongly country.

Signs is deeply inspired and purposefully-written, leveraging the geography of Charlie’s personal journey, the natural wonders she encountered along the way, and some of the spiritual nomenclature she acquired during her trek. Much of this can be seen simply by perusing the track list, but it manifests itself through the songs as well, while the experience also helped sharply focus her sense of home back in Rhode Island.

Signs is also quite distinctly a pandemic record. Multiple songs make reference to Covid and Covid-era experiences. That doesn’t make Signs especially unique since other performers made similar records in the era. But it does date the work. And since we’re now some years removed from that era, one could call some of the pandemic-referencing material dated, or even anachronistic, while it’s not been long enough to render it nostalgic. Some of Charlie Marie Patsy Cline-inclined audience might also get tripped up by references to “Namaste” or entering chakras. There is some Eastern religion embedded in this record.

Charlie Marie is not signed to any record label. She’s not about to embark on a nationwide tour, and she’s not looking to rocket to superstadom. Somewhat ironically, when her debut album Ramble On came out during the pandemic in 2021, the circumstances scuttled some of the rollout, resulting in Charlie Marie putting her entire music career on hiatus for a period. She wrote and recorded Signs for herself, and to chronicle and catalog a critical period in her life. She paid for it, and she is the person it’s most important that this album pleases.

But within the songs and verses of Signs, others might also find a path through questions, travails, or difficult times in their lives, or be inspired to take their own journey of personal discovery and enlightenment. Sings is not just a country album. It’s an exploration of the soul. Some will not be ready or receptive to that. For others, it will be the exact kind of deeper experience they seek.

8/10

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Stream/download Signs /// Purchase on Bandcamp