The title and cover image highlight the fact that family memories are a big theme on this record, a concept album of sorts.
On the basis that "one day we'll all be ghosts" (Brothers) it feels like a tentative peace making with the parents who the East-Nashville based singer songwriter has been estranged from for many years.
White says that "being artistic, gay and strong-willed was not what they had planned on..... their disapproval lit a fire".
Now that they are older and in failing health things look a little different. Whatever anger there was in the past has faded and/or she has mellowed over time
On the opening song,Big Blue Sun, she sings "I wish I was a baby on my mamma's knee" which may be taking the nostalgia trip a little too far but we get the point. On the more rock orientated Daddy Run the lyrics come from her father's memoirs.
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On the title track she sings of being resigned to the fact that there are "dreams that will never come true" but there is no bitterness or hatred here.
This is the mature perspective of a woman who is sure of her voice and at peace with herself. Helped by Nashville friends and twang-friendly musicians, fans of Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams will know where she's coming from.
Amelia White may not quite be in the same league as those artists but her willingness to wear her heart on her sleeve means that she is a performer deserving of respect.
Amelia White's website
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