It’s a truism of singer-songwriter music: Young artists compose tunes about the things they plan to do. They promise, “Oh baby, I’m gonna blah blah blah.” Older musicians reflect on their experiences. They croon, “I remember when blah blah blah” type material. The title of Kim Richey’s latest record, Every New Beginning, suggests she’s defying the convention. That’s not exactly the case. Her tenth full-length studio album focuses on the present by reflecting on the past.
Kim Richey has been on the scene for decades, as her self-titled debut release came out in 1995. She has written songs and has collaborated with big names in country and folk, such as Jason Isbell, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna Judd, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Like these artists, Richey observes the changing world around her with an open heart. Experience has taught her to know better, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling what she feels. The ten songs here offer bittersweet stories of the people and places she has known (incidentally, her second album from 1997 was called Bitter Sweet).
Every New Beginning has a nostalgic feel, especially on “Chapel Avenue” and “Goodbye Ohio”, but Richey transcends the maudlin by keeping her concerns in the now. As the LP’s title reveals, the biggest lesson Richey has learned is that life goes on. It’s as simple and complicated as that. “The sun comes up and the sun goes down / And there’s another day,” she sings knowingly. Richey simultaneously refers to the day that just happened and the one about to on “Take the Cake”, a song about an old lover with a Peter Pan personality who wants to kiss for old time’s sake. Memory teaches one to know better, but feeling a spark is worth a broken heart. Life goes on.
Lyrically, Kim Richey’s songs are full of pity sayings and affecting details. She goes for the poetic over the analytic when describing past lovers and friends (“He can beat the odds like everybody owes him money”; “I wait and wonder where you are tonight / And if I look up just in time to see a star fall down”; “Drop the needle on your favorite sad song / You’re not the only one who ever got it all wrong”). Richey refers to the accoutrements of when she was younger (“banana seats”, “sissy bars” and “wheelies”) that persist in the present. What was once new becomes old. Like old lovers, memories can still have power over us.
Musically, Richey sings with an earnest longing that can bend a syllable into more than its constituent parts. In “Come Back to Me”, she twists and turns the word “me” into everything from a prayer to an ache to a declaration of desire by how she phrases the pronoun. The bulk of songs feature Richey singing over a small combo consisting of Doug Lancio (guitar), Dan Mitchell (piano), Neilson Hubbard (drums), and Lex Price (bass). Aaron Lee Tasjan on guitar on two tracks and elegant touches provided by Katie Larson (cello), Sav Buist (violin), and Roger Nichols (programming). But it’s Richey’s voice that commands the most attention.
Every New Beginning offers a listening place where one’s heart can grow wings through the magic of Kim Richey’s art. The record can inspire one to keep moving on even when one’s present romantic circumstances may suggest shutting down. Her ten lessons suggest the only reason to look back is to remind us to keep moving forward. The individual tracks remind one to reach out, make waves, and fill up one’s glass one more time. Starting out doesn’t mean starting from scratch but bringing our baggage with us.