Willow Avalon is a female country star to keep your eyes on. The "Southern Belle that's raising hell," as she deems herself, is from small-town Georgia and intertwines her Georgian charm with lyrics that pack a punch. With her early hit "Gettin' Rich, Goin' Broke," Avalon captured the hearts of country music fans with her old-timey vocals. Her twangs and delivery are reminiscent of early Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn. She's country to the core, although she believes she's a mix of a few other greats, naming her biggest influences.
"It's like a smoothie of Lucinda Williams, Dolly Parton, and Stevie Nicks." Avalon even gave a nod to the Dolly Parton comparison in a recent single, "Hey There, Dolly," in which she cheekily compares their similarities. https://www.instagram.com/p/C87btbNu5_V/ "Hey There Dolly" perfectly encapsulates Avalon's bubbly and open-book personality. I had a chance to sit down with Willow Avalon the other week ahead of her opening set for Cage The Elephant's
Neon Pill Tour , where she is a supporting artist. During our conversation, she chatted with me about her upcoming record and the inspiration behind her anthemic breakup anthems, and we had good ole girl talk where you spill way too much information about each other's lives. During that conversation, she touched on her then-unreleased track "Yodelayheewho," a warning song to men who approach her with too bold expectations. As a 25-year-old trying to navigate dating in New York City while making it in the music industry, Avalon says that she "doesn't have therapy," and her songs often reflect how she feels as situations unfold. While we chatted a lot about what was upcoming for her, she touched on her latest single with Maggie Antone, noting that it is her personal favorite song from her forthcoming record.
"It's about a dumb man that I dated briefly, and it's very descriptive, and when I played it for my Momma, she was like, 'Oh, honey, he's gonna know real quick.' He's from the small town that I'm from. That was the one time I tried dating a man from anywhere in the state where I'm from. I like to think of it as like doing charity work, and he was dumber than a sack of rocks...and that was the end of that...yeah, I wish him the best. So, that's my favorite song and it's my favorite song to play on stage." https://www.instagram.com/p/C93OYTXyDOv/ Avalon's description of the song as "descriptive" is dead on. She sings how this man was not meant for her and often talked down to her. Based on the lyrics, it sounds like this man was a bum. When Avalon played the song later after our conversation, I was unaware that Maggie Antone would be featured on the single. With a similar mannerism in her lyrical style of calling out men, this is a match made in heaven.
"You can try your best but you'll never leave That little town riding on my sleeves You can tell them all that you broke my heart But yodelayhee yodelayhee yodelayhee Who do you think you are?" The infectious lyrics will be stuck in your head after one listen, and if this is the first song you've heard from Willow Avalon, you will surely find yourself in a deep dive into her catalog after this one. Willow Avalon is going places, so hop on the bandwagon before she gets even bigger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ZVtr0ATCI
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