With poignant and thought provoking lyrics, Amy McCarley finds balance in a new perspective with the launch of MECO, her 3rd studio album, out February 8, 2019. After collaborating in writing new songs with Bluebird Cafe round-mate and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer, Pat Alger, McCarley returned to the studio with esteemed colleagues, co-producers Kenny Vaughan & George Bradfute to work on MECO, her highly anticipated follow up to 2014’s Jet Engines. MECO was recorded and mixed by Bradfute in his Tone Chaparral Studios in Madison, Tennessee and mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master Studios in Nashville.
An acronym borrowed from the Space Shuttle program that stands for Main Engine Cut Off, MECO occurred for the shuttle when onboard propulsion systems were disengaged at an altitude where velocity could be maintained by the power of an innate force at work in the universe with periodic adjustments from the vehicle. The album traces McCarley’s experience of what it's been like leaving life as a NASA contractor to pursue a career in music.
Featuring two of Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives on the entire album including Vaughan on guitar and multi-instrumentalist Chris Scruggs on drums, percussion, bass, and steel guitar; it is only fitting that Harry Stinson joins in on backing vocals on a track and Stuart himself plays mandolin on “Never Can Tell.”
The ten tracks of all original material feature McCarley’s yearning vocals, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. Alger, who co-wrote half of the songs on MECO says of McCarley, “Super, super intense guitar style. And I was so fascinated by it. Everything she did was real. Super intense. She’s just a different kind of performer.” Alger describes the series of events leading to a co-writing partnership that yielded half the songs on MECO in this video clip.
Uniquely relatable, this northern Alabama native’s music is embraced by Americana fans across the country and abroad. Vaughan says, “I think all of her songs come from a personal experience. Each song is about something she’s gone through, which is good because it gives her a little edge on the delivery. The emotional content kinda comes through in there.”
