Song List: Journey to Providence, We Go Together Like A Guitar and a Fiddle, Oceans, Little Lives, The Blade, How To Bend, Chasing Rainbows, Winner Every Time, Would These Arms Be in Your Way. Dark and Desperate, One Step Away.
Casey Penn is an Arkansas songwriter who has already won songwriter awards including the 2022 New Song Showcase at the Walnut Valley Festival. Her warm lead vocals lead the listener into stories of faith, hope, and relationships, and the musicians gathered for this debut album embrace the songs with supportive delight. Joining her are Justin Moses on banjo, mandolin and dobro, Jason Roller on fiddle and guitar, Kevin Grant on bass and several harmony vocalists.
The title song, “One Step Away,” was written for her father who was a minister and truly lived his life “one step away from heaven.” “Journey to Providence” was co-written with Thomm Jutz who also adds lead guitar to the song that celebrates family connections. “We Go Together Like a Guitar and a Fiddle” was written at a songwriting retreat and “holding down our part and giving just a little” in music and life is a formula for success. The grief and loss of a loved one is devastating and “Oceans” of tears flow to “wash away deserts with oceans I have cried.” Anticipation of love rediscovered is found in “Winner Every Time” and the classic country duet with Tim Raybon, “Would These Arms Be In Your Way.” While not a Casey Penn song, “The Blade” has a heartfelt delivery with Casey solidifying the imagery of a breakup with one partner catching the blade by the handle (in control) and the other catching the blade (razor against my heart). Casey Penn’s strong vocal delivery and musical settings combined with compelling lyrics foretell a great future unfolding!