Nashville-based Americana artist Linda Dunnavant has a great new album called Hidden Lake.
Songs like “Meet Me There” and “Me Against Me” are haunting and richly melodic, reminding me a lot of Kacey Musgraves.
Dunnavant grew up in Moultrie, Georgia, a region of the South that has given us (among others) Tom Petty, Ethel Cain and Florida Georgia Line. We recently spoke with Linda about her new album and her unique brand of “dream folk”:
You grew up in Moultrie, Georgia. When you were young, was Tallahassee the nearest “fun” city to go to?
Yes, Tallahassee was definitely the “big city” near Moultrie, but I probably spent more time in Valdosta, GA which is about 45 minutes away. I remember seeing Willie Nelson in concert there on his 67th birthday at a theme park called “Wild Adventures”. My friend’s stepdad got us backstage passes and we got to meet Willie after the show. I remember thinking, “Wow, I’m so lucky I got to see him while he’s still alive,” and here we are twenty-plus years later and he’s still performing. That moment is a great touchstone for me to remember that time is just a concept and age is just a number.
You describe your music as “dream folk Americana,” which is how I would describe Kacey Musgraves. Are you a fan of hers, and are there any other dream-pop artists you admire?
I’m a big fan of Kacey Musgraves. I love how she experiments with different sounds and styles, but at the end of the day everything she does sounds so unmistakably her. “Heart of the Woods,” from her latest album, has been on heavy rotation for me this year. I was once told that anything I sing sounds country to some extent because of my accent, and I think that seems true of Kacey too.
As far as dream-pop goes, I’ve always loved The Sundays. They somehow sound both fresh and nostalgic to me at the same time, and Harriet Wheeler has the most magical voice. dayaway also fits into the sweet spot of what I love about dream-pop. Sometimes I need music to help get me into a meditative, flow state and dream-pop does that for me pretty reliably.
Your new song “Skip To The Good Part” is beautiful. What’s the backstory on that song?
My husband and I have been together for a long time, and we used to have different versions of the same fight over and over again. I feel like as we get older, we’re more likely to laugh it off and move on more quickly, because it’s like, “Oh yeah, you’re just doing that thing you do,” and I wanted to write a song about that.
It’s definitely the most collaborative track on the album. I usually write solo with just my guitar, but this song started as a track that my producer Jackson Badgley created with Jimmy Mansfield. Jackson sent me the track and I came up with the melody and the lyrics. Griffin Raco helped us finish up the song, and I love how it turned out.
“Own It” is a very interesting song about two friends going through a rough patch. How did that song take shape?
Growing up, I never really learned about healthy conflict resolution. If someone did something to hurt me, I thought the two options were to ignore them or fight with them. Many years ago, one of my best friends stopped speaking to me without explanation, and neither of us had the tools to work through it. Whatever I did must have really hurt her, and this song is a belated attempt to take responsibility for my bad behavior. The older I get, the more I welcome conflict in relationships, but it can still be so tricky to navigate, especially when it comes to friendships.
How did you meet your producer Jackson Badgley – and what’s the best thing about working with him?
I met Jackson through Abigayle Kompst, who is an incredible singer-songwriter here in Nashville. He has that rare combination of having a strong creative vision, while also being really tuned into the details. He’s also a really intuitive and talented musician. The best part of working with him is that it never feels like work. We had so much fun making this record, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.
