Album Review – Margo Cilker’s “Little White Cross”

Singer/Songwriter Americana (#570.15) and Western (#512) on the Country DDS.

Steel your heart for an experience that only the best of songwriting-based music can afford, stirring those thick emotions inside your rib cage like the ingredients of mama’s drop biscuits in the batter bowl, reminding you that you’re very much alive and feeling. Margo Cilker is the one churning the whisk in this instance, and she won’t be an entirely unfamiliar name for those with their ear to the ground, and their nose in catalogs looking for only the best and most potent stuff in rural American music.

Originally from an agricultural portion of Northern California, Margo Cilker now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, cattle ranger, and fellow songwriter Forrest VanTuyl. From the hints dropped on this new album, perhaps they homestead near the Washington/Oregon border that’s divided by the broad and mighty Columbia River. It’s in this setting where Cilker mines much of the inspiration for this new selection of songs presented under the title Little White Cross.

Instead of heading to Portland or Seattle for the sessions though, Margo Cilker shipped herself and steel guitar player Eric Heywood to Lockhart, TX, and the audio lair of Texas songwriting royal family member Bruce Robison to capture that live-to-tape feel with some of Texas music’s finest. This includes Lisa Pankratz on drums, Beth Chrisman on fiddle, and Scott Davis on bass among others. Sister Sarah Cilker also showed up because nobody’s better for harmonizing with Margo, and not an insignificant amount of studio magic was made.

Margo Cilker calls Little White Cross a concept album, even if that conceptualization is somewhat undefined. What’s for sure is that Cilker goes to work on your guts in the first few songs mercilessly, starting with a three song salvo that centers the severe impact of death. The little white crosses on the side of the road are now such an indelible symbol of American iconography, reminding us all that the end can come anywhere, and instantaneously.

“Ladybug” leaves the cause of death more ambiguous, though you fear the worse. This leads you to “Molly and Me,” which Cilker has revealed is about the teenage sister of the perpetrator of a mass shooting, told from the perspective of the sister’s best friend. This is the kind of songwriting and tragic storytelling that has made Margo Cilker like the Lucinda Williams of the West.

But just when you think this album’s concept will be exploring the different contours around death and tragedy, it turns much more hopeful with “The Border,” which one could infer is about Margo’s courtship with her husband, or is at least a love story of some specific origin. Even at this early stage of the album, you appreciate the opportunity to come up for air, though the early songs are so rewarding in that sad song way. The intermission from tragedy is then elongated by an impassioned cover of Tom Petty’s “Walls.”

One surprising aspect to Little White Cross is how much Margo Cilker relies on outside material for the album. Singer/songwriter Cristy Hays is responsible for the title track. Long-time Pacific Northwest drummer and songwriter Sera Cahoone wrote “Ladybug.” “Road to Las Cruces” is an old Ian Tyson song.

“The Money” was written by California songwriter Kevin Carducci, and just like Margo Cilker’s “Pauline,” perhaps suffers a little from the song’s lyrical repetitiveness. But hey, Willie’s Red Headed Stranger was also filled with a lot of older songs and standards. And even though you’re a bit surprised Cilker didn’t pen more of these songs herself since songwriting is her thing, it’s hard to argue with the results.

Little White Cross starts off very strong, and that’s also how it ends. “The Money” is one of those “lived” songs that anyone that’s worked their bones into the dirt out west, and then felt the satisfaction of heading back to civilization with a pocket full of green can relate to. “Maryhill Peaches, Goodnoe Pairs” feels like a continuation of the Margo Cilker love story with geography playing an important role, co-written with Forrest VanTuyl. And “Wolves” written by Stephanie Davis is the perfect epitaph to this album with the way it leaves you with chills.

What Margo Cilker assembles through Little White Cross is a beautiful collection of Western stories backed by country and Americana music that allows you to explore a host of strong emotional experiences imbued with meaningful connections. The timbre of Cilker’s voice paired with her sister, and the way the band is captured live and allowed to play too long on certain tracks, it all makes for a a rich and vibrant album that might be too involved for the masses, but feel just right for those that want to immerse themselves in musical story.

8.3/10

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Stream Little White Cross // Purchase on Bandcamp