Music – Anna Mae shows her good country voice with earthy songs

A concise voice and a heart for country, folk and rock: Anna Mae from the Lucerne hinterland has released her debut album.

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There is a young voice that stands out. She articulates her songs boldly and pithily, she knows country phrasing and is not afraid of the occasional vibrato. Who is this ambitious sounding lady from the Lucerne hinterland, who is definitely closer to American roots than hipster electro pop?

Born in Willisau, Nadja Limacher sings, writes songs and plays the guitar. She has been traveling as Anna Mae for ten years. Five years ago she quit her office job and went to music. In 2018 she got the opportunity to draw attention to herself with three showcases at a festival in Toronto:

«Before that, I had toured the American Midwest for three weeks. My concerts were very well received. “

She wants to make a statement with her debut album, says Anna Mae. «I want to show what I’ve written over the past ten years. This is my music. ” She also enjoys listening to roots music and country in her private life. This “feeling of freedom and space” speaks to them. “The first singer that I became consciously aware of as a child is Tina Turner. I still love her, her energy, her girl power. ” She also likes Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen.

Produced with care

The ten songs on “Out Of The Woods” have a good wind, are melodically memorable and yet not common goods. Anna Mae creates an unsentimental and emotional atmosphere, looks for her own, remains haunting. She sings about personal sensitivities and about not being discouraged by difficulties on the path of life:

“It is important to believe in your dreams and to stick with them when you are convinced of something.”

“Out Of The Woods” is not that country-pop album that often quickly becomes arbitrary, as do many who can sing well and which are then produced too predictably. The producer and musician Steffen Peters (Soundfarm Studios Obernau) had something else in mind. With Andi Schnellmann (electric bass), Christian Winiker (guitar), Tobi Gmür (mandolin) and Simon Iten (double bass), he invited some well-known names from the local scene to the recordings.

Anna Mae brought the pedal steel guitarist Brian Wilkie with her, whom she had met in Chicago, as well as the guitarist Gabriel Yaacoub from Wauwil, with whom she has performed many times. Lukas Bircher plays the fiddle, Sebastian Meyer piano and organ, Timo Wild drums. This is a rich arsenal of instrumental voices, which are brought together harmoniously depending on the song. The sound is round and transparent, (almost) without gusto and pomp, but with the warm timbre and breadth in our sights, which bring us closer to imaginary Roots America.

The good pinch of rock

A gain for the album is the rocking gesture that permeates some songs and is characterized by fine guitar work on “Wolves In The Woods”, “It’s Hard To Be Good”, “Freedom” or on the soulful “Roaring Thunder”. The highlight in this regard is “A Place I Can Rest”, with seven minutes the longest and musically richest song on the album, which burns into the soul with slow-bluesy intensity.

She is very happy with the album, says Anna Mae. “I’m happy that we were able to adapt and arrange the songs in the studio so that they can be played with a band and performed on stage.” She dreamed of it as a teenager. She explains: “This is a new step that I can take with a great band.” All that remains is the wish that she can finally present her songs live on stage in this full format.

Anna Mae: Out Of The Woods, CD, 2021 (available in the Old Town Record Store Lucerne)