Country

DeAnna is from Georgia and counts country singers such as Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton as favorites. So its not surprising that she can pull off a country tone that I consider heartbreakingly pure.

For country aficionados, one always goes back to the singing of Patsy Cline. It's not as if I go crazy over anything or everything to do with country music, but I can truly appreciate what Cline did in her short career. She was the high-water mark to compare against for every female country singer that came after her. When I listen to covers of Patsy Cline songs, I always go back to the original and just go ... wow.

As a singular performance, DeAnna's live recording of Kris Kristofferson's classic Help Me Make it Through the Night is in that Patsy Cline territory. The following audio excerpt shows the raw emotional projection that she was able to express, with the classic country yodel trills that trail off each of the verses. Like I said, my country music knowledge doesn't go deep, but this is just too cool and I never grow tired of listening to:

Why don't all female county singers sound like this?

And then she does the DeAnna thing and ends the song with a transition from a country twang to a trailing vocalization of the word night that sets her apart from every country singer out there. I have no idea where that accent comes from (and hopefully I will figure it out by Part 10) but the tone of it was just so right, IMO. Will she pursue country? ... or is that the tell-tale sign that she can do so much more?

The rest of it is here, in all its minute-and-a-half glory : Help Me Make it Through the Night.

Other DeAnna country songs are here, courtesy of fans who I am grateful decided to record live performances.