Melissa Carper (performance & record signing)

Melissa Carper’s musical sensibilities span every inch of a boot-scuffed dance floor, from Western swing and tears-in-your-beer country to blues-touched balladry and occasional R&B finishes. Ramblin’ Soul, her fourth release unveiled November 18, comfortably and neatly encompasses that range, rolling a sampler of Americana styles into a polished record that sounds wholly her own. Picking up where 2021’s Daddy’s Country Gold left off, the new collection showcases a broader and bolder sound for the specialist in upright bass, which serves as the record’s heartbeat.

If Daddy’s Country Gold firmly established Carper as a solo artist outside of the Carper Family, Ramblin’ Soul is a firm underline. The Nashville heavy-hitters of her past LP are back, as Andrija Tokic and Dennis Crouch co-produced the new record; and a who’s who of Nashville musicians fill out the compositions: Chris Scruggs, Lloyd Green, Billy Contreras, and Jeff Taylor. Despite her wallflower tendencies, Carper’s effortless, genre-bending, and commanding-if-ethereal soprano – which earned her the nickname HillBillie Holiday – is the real star of the show.

Despite her ongoing ties to Music City, Carper returned to Austin, or just outside of it, in fall 2020 after a six-year break. We reap the benefits: A few days after she performs and signs Ramblin’ Soul records at Waterloo, starting at 5pm, she’ll take the stage at Stateside at Paramount next Friday, December 2.