Danni Nicholls grew up in Bedford, England but her maternal grandmother and father were born in India. Her ‘nan’ gave her a notebook of handwritten lyrics to my family’s favourite American songs and this record is inspired by these.
Since Nicholls now lives in Nashville the country music style she and local musicians play inevitably has no trace of Anglo-Indian roots. Undeterred, Nicholls and producer Sarah Peacock hired some vintage mics to evoke a sense of history.
The album is made up of five covers, two reworked originals and a brand new song in the form of a specially composed title track This pays homage to the journey her grandparents took to build a new life.
Covers include Patsy Cline’s Crazy and Elvis numbers My Happiness and Can’t Help Falling In Love.
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There are also versions of the classics Blue Bayou and
Tennessee Waltz.
Fortunately, Nicholls has a fine, graceful voice so can do full justice to this prestigious material.
This album is such an obvious labour of love that it would be churlish and pointless to make any nit-picking criticism. These are simply fine songs sung with affection and charm.
Danni Nicholls’s website
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