Mary McCloud - All We Need (2020)

Mary McCloud, with co-writer and producer Ched Tolliver, brought together a wide range of musical talent to work on the album. All We Need features renowned greats from both country music and rock and roll. One of the surprise pleasures of All We Need is how well the album is anchored in a traditional downhome sound, with Marty Rifkin’s incomparable pedal steel and Gabe Witcher of Punch Brothers’ fiddle, while also including drums from Guns and Roses’ Frank Ferrer, for example, and The Who regular Jon Button on bass guitar.

“We’re lucky to know a lot of musicians,” says Ched Tolliver, who besides co-writing and producing, also played several instruments on All We Need. “We wanted to utilize as many of our friends as possible on the album.” McCloud and Tolliver worked with the above-mentioned talents, and additionally Wally Ingraham, Robin Diaz, and David Yorkin. During sessions, they wanted a studio vibe that encouraged the musicians to experiment and bring their own special magic to the tracks. Robin Diaz, lauded as a top-notch rock drummer, for example, shows a versatility on the album for all kinds of beats and rhythms. “These guys, between them, have played with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Rosanne Cash, The Who, Sheryl Crow, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Douglas – I could go on. They are multi-lingual when it comes to playing music. They can play it all,” says McCloud, who was thrilled to have such a slate for her songwriting debut.

Laying down harmony vocals, McCloud and Tolliver recorded with Kurt Kassulke on three tracks and Tanya Haden of The Haden Triplets for Loretta Lynn’s “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” Both accomplished singers complement McCloud’s voice beautifully in tone and timbre, whether it’s the upbeat country of “Honky Tonk” and “Boomerang” or the darker strains of “Enemy Inside.”

The album’s original songs all feature McCloud’s brilliant visual storytelling brought to life through complex musical arrangements and catchy riffs. The banjo, played by Tolliver on several tracks, Gabe Witcher’s fiddle, and Marty Rifkin’s pedal steel root us in the vernacular of Country and Americana but not one note feels cliché.

For the album’s other tracks, McCloud and Tolliver sought out songs that would complement the gifted storyteller in McCloud, a quality in her voice that makes you want to perk up and listen to what she has to say. “Heartbreak Hotel” is as sexy as Elvis ever sang it and the 80s classic “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is a revelation in their hands, with McCloud’s stunning vocals against a spooky backdrop of Wally Ingraham’s shamanic percussion and Marty Rifkin’s haunting dobro and pedal steel. Sprinkled throughout the album are bits of dialogue by the wonderful character actor Frank Clem, and McCloud’s niece and mother. These vignettes add to the storytelling quality of the entire album, stories you’ll want to hear over and over, stories that will become your own.