Melissa Carper Unveils New Single 'Ain't a Day Goes By'

Singer/songwriter and upright bassist Melissa Carper has released "Ain't A Day Goes By," the lead single from her forthcoming album Ramblin' Soul, due out on November 18th via Mae Music/Thirty Tigers.

"It's a heartbreaking song about grief and loss, but a gentle western swing and soulful tones of hope keep it above water," said Country Queer. "By not treating it as a ballad, Carper instead serves up something bittersweet and endearing with just the slightest element of whimsy. It's a fitting tribute, as she explained in a statement about the tune."

Carper penned the track in 2014 after the death of her beloved dog, Betty. "This song is very emotional for me," she reveals. "It was difficult to go through my Dad's death, then my Mom's death only a year later, and really, in a sense, losing my younger brother to severe mental health issues that have changed his personality completely. Betty's death crushed me because she had been through it all with me. The grief just started pouring out at that point," she continues.

"I wrote 'Ain't A Day Goes By' within a year of her death, but could not sing it without crying until recently, so I haven't performed it much in my shows. Now, it gets its rightful debut on Ramblin' Soul because it is a true soul song."

"[H]er music wrangles sounds of a different era - country jazz, honky-tonk, and a bluesy soul unfurling with the thick twang of her vocals - yet can also swing provocatively playful and progressive," commented The Austin Chronicle. "The result is less a throwback, though, than a fusion of styles into a new, adventurous, old-time-steeped Americana...Ramblin' Soul readies Carper's adventurous anachronisms precisely when her version of authentic revivalism seems primed for broader attention."

After the success of her critically-acclaimed 2021 release Daddy's Country Gold, Carper, dubbed "HillBillie Holiday" by friend and collaborator Chris Scruggs, was eager to get back in the studio. With co-producers Andrija Tokic (St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Hurray For The Riff Raff) and Dennis Crouch (The Time Jumpers) behind the boards again at Tokic's analog paradise The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, Carper assembled that same crew of magical music makers - plus a few more - to join her on the adventure.

In 2020, grappling with the loss of regular gigs, Carper and her partner, award-winning fiddler Rebecca Patek, moved to a friend's farm near Austin, working in exchange for housing, organic vegetables, and fresh, country air. The simpler life afforded Carper the space and rejuvenation needed to channel her muse, and begin writing for her next album.

Ramblin' Soul, which features upbeat and diverse styles and grooves, boasts ten Carper originals, along with a co-write with life-long ramblin' buddy and bandmate Gina Gallina, a song written by friend and frequent collaborator Brennen Leigh, and a reimagined classic from folk pioneer Odetta. The album ventures into blues, early rock n' roll, and old-school soul, blended with Carper's signature styles of country, western swing, and jazz.

Album track "Ain't a Day Goes By" breaks your heart, then mends it again in the universal longing for a loved one now gone on. Backed up by Hammond B3 organ (John Pahmer), the emotion is punctuated by the gospel-style harmony stylings of Kyshona Armstrong, Nickie Conley, and Maureen Murphy.

"1980 Dodge Van" heralds pulsing electric guitar and a grooving upright bass (Dennis Crouch) in an ode to the loyal family vehicle, while "I Don't Need to Cry" is a Patsy Cline-esque lament showcasing Carper's classic country range and songwriting finesse. The upbeat, tongue-in-cheek "Holding All The Cards" transports us to a smoky New Orleans speakeasy, with wordplay, honky tonk piano, and playful clarinet, while Carper pays an upbeat western swing tribute to her current home state in "Texas, Texas. Texas."

Carper's lifelong, steadfast listening has come to fruition in the songs on Ramblin' Soul; her childhood love of the family record collection planted the seeds of what is her own bountiful orchard today.

Watch the new music video here:

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