By Adam Dawson
Heather Little fans in the Upper East Side of Texas have known for a long time that she’s pretty amazing. From her former home base in Lindale, Texas, she graced stages all over the region for a couple of decades. The singer-songwriter puts her heart and soul into lyrics and melodies, often touching her relating audiences deeply.
She moved to Tennessee in 2022. Her Texas fans continue to cheer her on and are eagerly anticipating her new album, By Now, and shows in Dallas and Winnsboro.
Saying someone is a “songwriter’s songwriter” is a cliche for most folks to describe someone that writes great songs but isn’t famous. Heather Little shatters the cliche because there is a very good chance she is your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter.
With a career that started in the early 2000’s, Little has been crafting perfect songs for a long time in relative obscurity, at least as far as the general public is concerned. But, with songs covered by some of the biggest names in country music, Little’s songs have garnered her two BMI awards for songwriting and the songs she’s written or co-written have been spun millions of times by fans all over the world.
Little’s own recordings have been few and far between. Wings Like These, 2013, is her only proper full length release until now. Partnering with the folks at Need To Know Music (producers Brian Brinkerhoff and Frank Swart) has led to an album that Little herself says was “46 years in the making.” Coming out on April 19, By Now is poised to not only bring the brilliance of Little’s songwriting, but also her vulnerable, awe-inspiring vocals and delivery which has drawn comparisons to the likes of Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna.
The basic tracks for the album were laid down in the Need To Know studios in California in 2023. Once those were in the can, an all star cast of musicians including Audley Freed, Paul Griffith, John Dederick, Jared Tyler and more began recording and sending in parts to flesh out the tunes. On top of that, the list of guest vocalists on the album include the aforementioned Patty Griffin, Leslie Satcher, Crystal Bowersox and others. While the talent surrounding Little on this album is impressive it is imperative to note that they all served the star of the show — Little’s songs and voice. The landscape that was created is a perfect backdrop to what will prove to be one of the most compelling collection of songs released this year.
Throughout the album, Little is unafraid to turn her impeccable eye for detail in song onto some of the most universal and difficult issues that affect all of humanity. Whether she is speaking from personal experience or embodying the trials and tribulations of another, Little displays a master class on understanding the human condition.
Little says of the album, its themes and the journey it took become a reality :
“This record is about how easy it is to be hard on yourself, and how hard it is to be easy and cut yourself a break sometimes. Grace is a dense pigment that takes over what it colors, but so are resentment, contempt, anger, fear, and indifference. It took a long time for me to learn the lessons given by the people I’ve known along the way thus far, and even longer to see clearly the situations and circumstances I created with my own choices.
“There is a good bit of reprogramming, re-parenting, rebuilding, and re-replanting yet to do, but this is a start.
“These songs would not exist were it not for the awful parts I did not expect to survive. The existence of this record is proof love will always win in the end — love of each other as humans, of healing and communication through music, and of what happens when the notes and words and sounds string us all together in the universal language of song. Music is universal. Love is universal. Music is love.”
Every track presented here tells a story that the listener cannot turn away from. “Hands Like Mine” featuring Griffin is an unflinching look at the difficulties of marriage. The gut wrenching “Razor Wire” takes on the topic of abandonment in a way that has never been done. Further along the record Litte takes on abuse in two different relationships, each with its own way of coming to terms with a situation that far too many people find themselves in. “My Father’s Roof” shining a light on what it’s like to grow up in a house infected with evil and “Gunpowder and Lead” (made famous by co-writer Miranda Lambert) closes the album with the story of a wife taking matters into her own hands when the system fails to help her complete with a never before recorded second verse.
When taken all together By Now is a snapshot of a songwriter and artist at the very top of her game. These songs are born from a wisdom and compassion that can only come from experience, learning and living. Heather Little has given the world a record that will inevitably stand the test of time to sit among some of the finest albums in recent memory.
Little is having a Record Release Show on March 30 at Winnsboro Center for the Arts. Get tickets at www.WinnsboroCenterForTheArts.com. She performs May 8 at Open Bell Coffee in Dallas. Learn more about her on www.HeatherLittleMusic.com.
