Lindi Ortega heads to 'Faded Gloryville'

photo by Julie Moe

I really enjoyed Ortega's set at this year's Stagecoach (see review elsewhere on this blog) and look forward to her new material...

Lindi Ortega has partnered with Rdio -- a personalized stations-first Internet radio experience -- for an exclusive premiere of "I Ain't That Girl." The track is from her fourth studio album, Faded Gloryville, out Aug. 7 on The Grand Tour/Last Gang Records.

Rdio will also feature a Q&A with six-time Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television award winner George Stroumboulopoulos of CBC Radio's "The Strombo Show," where Lindi talks about living in Nashville, the influence of Leonard Cohen and why she chose to record a cover by The Bee Gees.

Influenced by music that varies from '70s country records to classic soul, Lindi's creative vision for Faded Gloryville led her to team with producers Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton), Colin Linden (T Bone Burnett) and the Muscle Shoals-based team of Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and John Paul White (Civil Wars).

Although all three sessions were different, every one of them focused on live studio takes, capturing both the rough-edged rawness of Ortega's live performances and the smooth salve of her voice.

"There's something about the Shoals that entices artists to forget themselves, to reimagine, to reinvent," says John Paul White, whose harmonies can also be heard on three of the album's tracks. "Lindi did a great job of immersing herself in what we do around here, yet retain that thing that makes her indelibly unique. That takes an amount of confidence that most do not have."

Ortega has a reason to be confident. Her first two albums, Little Red Boots and Cigarettes & Truckstops, were both long listed for the Polaris Music Prize, while 2013's Tin Star -- which found her working with Cobb for the first time -- helped her win a Canadian Country Music Award for Roots Artist of the Year.

She's toured North America with artists like Social Distortion, whose punk-loving audiences were quick to accept Ortega as one of their own. In a decade filled with big-budget country albums, she's something different: a throwback to the glory days of '70s country, whose stars mixed the twang of the south with the do-it-yourself attitude of rock & roll.

"'Faded Gloryville' isn't just about music," she told Rolling Stone Country. "It's about anything that brings you down, whether it's dreams not coming true or relationships not working out, and its message is this: you can go to place where you're feeling really down about things, but it's what you do afterwards -- do you decide to reside there forever, or do you leave and make the situation better -- that matters. You have to travel through 'Faded Gloryville' to get to Paradise."

Lindi will play Ink N Iron and AmericanaFest in weeks following the album release, available for pre-order here: kt8merch.com/store/pages/23260

Track Listing:
 
1. Ashes
2. Faded Gloryville
3. Tell It Like It Is
4. Someday Soon
5. To Love Somebody
6. When You Ain't Home
7. Run-down Neighborhood
8. I Ain't The Girl
9. Run Amuck
10. Half Moon

Tour Dates:
 

August 4 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
August 9 - Nashville, TN - Ink N' Iron Festival
August 11 - Eagleview, PA - Concerts in the Square
August 13 - Schwenksville, PA - Philadelphia Folk Festival
August 14 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern
August 15 - Charlotte, NC - Double Door Inn
August 29 - Athens, GA - Wildwood Revival
August 30 - Atlanta, GA - Sunset Sessions at Park Tavern
September 17 - Nashville, TN - Americana Music Festival
September 18 - Bristol, TN - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
September 19 - Bristol, TN - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
September 22 - Seattle, WA - Triple Door
September 24 - Victoria, BC - Save On Food Memorial Centre
September 25 - Abbotsford, BC - Abbotsford Centre
September 26 - Kelowna, BC - Prospera Place
September 27 - Cranbrook, BC - Western Financial Place
September 29 - Lethbridge, AB - Geomatic Attic
October 1 - Edmonton, AB - Horowitz
October 2 - Calgary, AB - Flames Central
October 3 - Saskatoon, SK - Capitol Theatre
October 4 - Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Centre
October 7 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cedar
October 8 - Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
October 9 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
October 10 - Goshen, IN - Ignition Music Garage
October 12 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
October 14 - Washington, D.C. - Gypsy Sally's
October 16 - Boston, MA - The Red Room @ Cafe 939
October 17 - Pawling, NY - Daryl's House
October 20 - London, ON - Aeolian Hall
October 22 - Waterloo, ON - Maxwell's Music House
October 23 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
October 24 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club

lindiortega.com