This Feels Big: Caroline Spence Signs to Rounder Records
Charlottesville, Virginia native Caroline Spence is now a signed artist. Esteemed and respected in east Nashville and beyond as an under-the-radar songwriter and performer, it was announced last week that she has come to terms with Rounder Records to release what will be her third full-length album, Mint Condition, on May 3rd. Ahead of the release, Rounder and Spence have made available a couple of new tracks, “Long Haul” and “Mint Condition.”
The signing of Spence feels significant because she is part of a greater collection of worthy, but often under-supported songwriters scrapping for attention in the underbelly of Music City, artists like Michaela Anne, Kristina Murray, Erin Rae, Molly Parden, and many others. Caroline Spence has collaborated in the past with the likes of Anderson East and Andrew Combs, and she released a collaborative album with Robby Hecht in 2018. Spence can also count Miranda Lambert as a fan, but up until now she’s had to fight and scratch for opportunities in her career.
“People tell you to write about what you know, but a lot of the time I write about what I don’t know,” Spence says. “For me songs are a way to ask questions, and sometimes you end up figuring out the answers. A lot of these songs come from a very tired-and-worn place. There’s a sense of things not going my way and feeling rattled by that, but knowing deep down that it’s all part of getting to where you need to be.”
The upcoming album was produced by Dan Knobler, who is known for working with Lake Street Dive, and recorded at Knobler’s Goosehead Palace studio in Nashville. Caroline Spence received another ringing endorsement during the making of the album, when Country Music Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris chose to lend her voice to the title track.
“I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom in 2013, at a point when I’d been writing a lot of woe-is-me breakup songs,” Spence says. “I gave myself a writing prompt that was something like, ‘Let’s write the opposite of all that; let’s think about the type of life you’d like to look back on when you’re older. Let’s write something good enough for Emmylou Harris to sing.’”
Inspired by her grandmother who passed away recently, “Mint Condition” is a perfect showcase for the sweetness contained in Caroline Spence’s voice, while the emotion is sent to the rafters when Emmylou joins in on harmonies (listen below).
From a musical family, including her aunt who worked at Asylum/Elektra when Emmylou Harris cut her iconic Wrecking Ball album, Caroline Spence started writing songs at the age of six, and began playing shows in Charlottesville at 15. She released her debut album Somehow in 2015, and a follow up Spades and Roses in 2017.
Keep an eye out for Mint Condition when it becomes available from Rounder Records in May.
January 23, 2019 @ 8:43 pm
First Cody Jinks Now her
January 23, 2019 @ 8:47 pm
Saw her open for John Moreland in Fort Worth a while back. Had never heard of her before and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed her set. Good for her.
January 23, 2019 @ 10:32 pm
The best ‘new’ artist I discovered last year. Spades and Roses was outstanding. Her voice can be spine-tingling
January 23, 2019 @ 10:39 pm
Congrats to this young lady . I think there is , indeed , something going on here with Caroline Spence . I’m impressed, I think , by her handle on to-the-point lyric-writing . I say ” I think ” because i just feel like I’m working way too hard to HEAR those lyrics .
I’ve listened to 3 or 4 tracks ( You Tube ) and they have all challenged me in that respect . I love the sound of her voice , her ability to engage me with just that sound and a more-than-serviceable melody . But I just hate having to work at hearing /deciphering a lyric . That shouldn’t be the responsibility of the listener and a GOOD producer would realize and respect that fact . With very little coaching , and perhaps more focused recording of her vocal tracks , this could be very easily addressed .
Or maybe its just me ?…..
January 24, 2019 @ 3:12 pm
Yeah, I know what you mean, but it doesn’t bother as much as Amanda Shires’ last album. I don’t have to really struggle to understand Caroline Spence. This is top shelf writing, in my opinion.
Rounder is a great label.
January 24, 2019 @ 6:38 am
She is one of those artists I would have never of heard of if it wasn’t for this site. I sought out her material and was knocked off my feet. Congratulations to her, and I am looking forward to the album.
January 24, 2019 @ 8:40 am
Her voice is awesome
January 24, 2019 @ 11:05 am
I’m REALLY looking forward to this one. Her collaborative album with Robby Hecht is incredible and well worth checking out if you haven’t heard it.
January 24, 2019 @ 11:58 am
very nice.
Re Albert……… can not make out the lyrics, for some reason artists don’t give you the lyrics when you buy a download of their album. You have to go searching the internet, hoping somebody has posted them somewhere.
When you consider how much effort goes into writing a song, and making an album, this makes no sense. Are they lacking confidence in the quality of the lyrics?
On the other hand…..Courtney Marie Andrews….. lyrics are very clearly sung and recorded.
January 24, 2019 @ 12:22 pm
….”can not make out the lyrics, for some reason artists don’t give you the lyrics when you buy a download of their album. You have to go searching the internet, hoping somebody has posted them somewhere”
my ‘argument’ , mark , is that the onus shouldn’t be on ME as a listener to do the work of finding or guessing at the lyric . and yes ….courtney is the perfect example of how to best showcase your lyric . I’m not suggesting an artist’s vocal style shouldn’t come into play . only that , as you point out , when a writer works hard at crafting the right lyric I think it deserves to be delivered in kind …..part of a vocalist’s mandate , I believe , is to deliver the lyric in a meaningful way that a listener understands and feels and / or relates to immediately ….not after searching the internet for what the vocalist is saying .
January 25, 2019 @ 12:43 pm
Yes, I understand your point about singing so the lyrics can be understood, and agree.
January 24, 2019 @ 5:54 pm
I never heard of her. Checked out a few songs on my way home from work today. Great voice, beautiful & unique! Thanks for the article on her.
January 24, 2019 @ 6:59 pm
Saving Country Music totally ignored 2017’s Spades & Roses. Excellent album. Every word can be heard clearly.
January 25, 2019 @ 12:07 am
I listened to the live you tube video and gave up 30 seconds in….lyrics were almost completely inaudible ……maybe the album is better .
January 25, 2019 @ 7:58 am
Now all she has to do is flaunt the body, immediately start singing pop songs, and talking about equality and making left-leaning comments as if she was anointed to do so (i.e Marren Morris), and she will be propelled to stardom.
Here’s hoping the best for her doing it the right way.
January 25, 2019 @ 8:46 pm
Didn’t know her. Am starting with her EP “You Know the Feeling.” First few notes, even before the vocals kick in: This is Virginia country music, the real thing. It goes way back. What a blessing.
January 25, 2019 @ 9:08 pm
First impressions part 2: You’d have to listen to a boatload of songs before finding a line as good as “There’s nothing I need less than whiskey watered down.”
January 25, 2019 @ 9:25 pm
Take 3: the first LP “Somehow.” Too pure and too real for radio, this is what St. Peter’s gonna play as welcoming music at the pearly gates. Get your house in order.
January 26, 2019 @ 9:03 am
Thanks for this article. I hadn’t heard of Caroline before, but I just checked out Spades & Roses and I’m hooked.
January 26, 2019 @ 9:38 am
Just gave Spades & Roses a run through and it has some really good songs. Great voice too! She’s opening for Ron Pope here in March and of course it’s sold out.
January 27, 2019 @ 2:09 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40UtdsnTeho&feature=youtu.be
here’s a better example , perhaps , of what I mean by not doing service to a lyric .
this is just a dreadful ‘performance’ of a song .
January 27, 2019 @ 10:04 pm
Checked out “Mint Condition”, and I was impressed. The lyrics are some of the best I’ve heard in a country song from this decade, and her voice is just too pretty not to demand attention. Between this, George Strait’s upcoming album, and Trisha Yearwood’s Sinatra tribute, 2019 looks to be a good year for me in terms of new music.