If the South were to have a soundtrack it’s only fitting that a Northerner would be in charge of it. The Civil War went to the North and the most fitting songs for the South belong to Rachael Davis of Michigan (who now lives in Massachusetts). With “Antebellum Queen” Rachael Davis has created a magnificently moving piece of art that takes from folk and country and gives back in droves.
It would be fair to compare her to any number of singer-songwriter types (most notably Norah Jones), yet she uses her voice in an entirely different way. Davis’s voice is just another instrument. On many songs, like “Mark of Cain”, she is the main instrument, but there are also times when her voice duets with an instrument just as seamlessly as on “Please, Please Papa.”
Reminiscent of the best old-timey singers on “While the world is sleeping,” she successfully brings the listener to a simpler, more relaxed and laid back time – if only for a few minutes. The addition of the bass clarinet on the track (courtesy of the coolest named guy ever – Cornelius Boots) makes it that much more authentic. The best part is that it never comes across as an imitation – Davis has actually recreated something uniquely and comes up with something beautiful and new.
These are the songs that you wish your mother had lulled you to sleep by (“Prayer for Home”), the songs that should be on the radio (“Sweetwater Sea”), the songs you can’t help but smile at (“Starflower-O”) and the songs you wish you had written (“Atlanta’s Burning”). Davis may rock a style and sound of a bygone era but she does it so well that you may just feel like you’re drifting back to that time – and it feels pretty darn good.