Brooksie Wells - In My Pocket (2019)

A journey of love, this set of songs reflects the humor and pathos of being present and observing our own joys and mistakes. Brooksie’s songs, like her life on the road are, at heart, about connection. Her interactions with friends and strangers along the way inform the stories sung on In My Pocket. Ms. Wells’ elegant fingerpicking and grounded vocals are supported by warm, acoustic arrangements and clean production.

The album feels like a summer afternoon on the porch with Folk’s great players all picking along and sipping lemonade. The opening track, “Love On,” a protest song and love letter to America, was co-written by Louisa Branscomb and features Ronny McCoury on mandolin. “Willow Rose,” “Honeysuckle,” and “Maybe Not,” are personal notes: to a child, to a friend, and to a heartbreaker–their comforting melodies moor the listener to the Folk foundations of the record. Brooksie’s only cover, Jackson Browne’s “Rock Me on The Water,” touches on the pain and karma of moving through a beautiful world with blinders on.
With the zeal of medieval balladeer, Brooksie tells the tawdry, twenty-first century tale of the Mead maker and the Stonecutter’s wife on “Rappahannock County,” while “Bell Buckle,” spins a bride’s wedding day jitters into a playful Bluegrass comedy. The album’s title track, “In My Pocket,” closes out the record. Pensive and confessional, “In My Pocket” is a song about getting back on track by letting go of yesterday, embracing today and letting tomorrow’s hope lead the way… maybe the road leads to the next broken heart, but maybe not.

At Cue Recording Sessions in Falls Church, Virginia, Brooksie and her longtime producer Julian McBrowne called on great friends and brilliant players, Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes and Brian Ashley Jones, among other fantastic musicians to lay down the fundamentals. Gary Gordon, Inside-Out Studios in Sparta, Illinois, mixed and mastered vocals and brought in Ivas John for additional guitars, Robert Bolin on fiddle and a pocketful of session musicians to round out and perfect the album’s sound. Brooksie’s son, John Bridstrup, contributed percussion throughout the record and sang harmony vocals on Captain John.

Brooksie Wells’ deep south roots and Dylan-era New York coming-of age ignited and continue to inspire her music. Her 2015 release, North East Rising Sun took a top ten spot on Folk DJ charts; its title track lingered in the top ten most-played songs through year’s end. And 2013’s, Down Home Divas, rose to #2 on the Roots Americana Charts.