Album Review – India Ramey’s “Baptized By The Blaze”

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#510.1 (Classic country) on the Country DDS.

If your jam in country music is cute little blondes cooing into an Auto-tuner about that boy in 6th Period, this record is not for you. India Ramey is on the opposite side of the country music spectrum, like Loretta Lynn if she grew Betty Page bangs and a habit of using bad words.

This ravenesque honky tonk maven comes with a major dose of vintage Western vibes and just a hint of rockabilly to make it all feel dangerous, with songs that are fun, but aren’t afraid to speak to something deeper when inclined.

Many of the women in country music these days love to sing about lighting stuff of fire to symbolically tease their empowerment. With India Ramey, you think she’ll actually haul off and do it. Baptized By The Blaze isn’t revenge fantasy. It’s full of real life stories and harrowing tales of someone willing to self-immolate if that means exorcising demons and moving forward in life.

“It is about phoenix energy,” Ramey says of the album. “It’s about the death of the old me who was a slave to my trauma and the birth of the new me who is living a full and happy life without fear.” 

During this exercise, Ramey shows of a rather incredible range of skill when it comes to singing and writing music in classic American roots styles. Completely self-penned and produced by the highly respected Luke Wooten, Baptized By The Blaze has something for most any country and roots fan to find appeal in.


“Ain’t My First Rodeo,” “Silverado,” and “Go On Git” are fun, honky tonk “bullshit kickers” (as Ramey would say). “Baptized By The Blaze,” “She Ain’t Never Coming Home,” and “Rotten” come from a darker place, and have that Gothic-like “Ghost Riders in the Sky” energy. “It Could Have Been Me” could have been recorded by Patsy Cline, while “The Mountain” shows perspective and depth usually reserved for the best folk and Americana songwriters.

Each song showcases Ramey’s wide vocal range and the confidence she delivers it with. There’s no holding back or restraint here. On Baptized By The Blaze, India Ramey goes for it. The instrumentation follows Ramey on this journey, deftly complimenting the mood of these original compositions with contributions from Tommy Hardin, Alyson Prestwood, Scotty Sanders, and James Mitchell.

The album is inspired by Ramey’s journey of finally facing down childhood trauma and abuse that gave way to years of dependence on anxiety drugs that she eventually kicked. But unless you’re told this backstory, you wouldn’t necessarily pick up on it from listening. In some respects, the lack of specificity or a more personal touch to the writing keeps the audience from going on as deep of a journey with Ramey as she did writing and recording the album.

At the same time, using allusion, symbolism, and allegory to tell her story allows Baptized By The Blaze to cast a wide net of appeal that doesn’t depend on deep examination or introspection to enjoy. India Ramey uses cool country & Western language and styling to tell her story, and to positive results.

Though the inspiration for the album might be heavy, this is one of those records that’s just entertaining to listen to, and perhaps a bit of escapism, or even inspiration for the rest of us to get some guts and confidence in facing down our own demons, or doing the difficult work of deconstructing the most self-defeating parts of ourselves.

1 3/4 Guns Up (8/10)

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