Reviews
Artist:Briana Hardyman
EP:Briana Hardyman
Label:Self Released
Tracks:4
Website:http://www.myspace.com/brianalynnhardyman
I first came across the name Briana Hardyman when reviewing the Cd on which she featured as part of duo, The Good Souls, with Dave Isaacs. I looked her up and found her MySpace page, heard her sing solo and was spellbound.
Her EP, produced last year, features four songs, which more than clearly demonstrate what this lady has to offer; talent and a voice which make your hairs stand on end among them.
Hailing from Nashville, to where she returned after a stint in New York, singer and songwriter Briana Hardyman has been compared to a diverse range of artists such as Stevie Nicks, Emmylou Harris, Jennifer Nettles, Bonnie Raitt, and Lucinda Williams. To listren to Briana sing, you could be forgiven for thinking she is older than her 24 years, Hardyman consistently delivers emotionally charged rootsy Americana sounding songs with more than just a hint of blues, soul, folk, and country thrown in to create a style that is truly her own.
Opening the EP, A Man I Can't Keep is a story of longing, for a man who is already spoken for and having to leave knowing he is going back to someone else. Never Land is infused with country sounds, and is a wonderfully written song about realising the need a woman has for a real man; "I'm not caught in your world of have and have nots and I need a real man not a lost boy trapped in Never Land." Only Lonely When it Rains is the story of a Nashville singer who lived a life of loneliness. By rights, it should be maudlin, yet it is so beautifully crafted it rises above this to be a story beautifully told. Closing the EP, Half Way There takes on a real country sound which could match any of the female country singers associated with the 1990s. I think this is what I love about Hardyman's music; instead of churning out the pop country of lots of young country artists of the moment, she has managed to capture elements of the country music we all loved and miss, whilst still retaining her individual and modern sound.
I cannot in all conscience, review this EP without mentioning the song I had hoped would be on it; The Man He Used to Be. When I asked about this song via MySpace, Briana told me Jamie was a college friend who went to war in Iraq. Before she left, she visited to say goodbye and saw how war had changed him. I know better than most he's a living ghost of Jamie, the man he used to be. When asked to write a patriotic song, she ended up writing about Jamie, the man she used to know. When I first heard this song I cried, I guess it shows the losses of war run deeper than just those who lose their lives to those who are forever changed by the experience.
It is worth noting that Hardyman is currently performing with a variety of artists in the United States and England (March - April 2009) including producer Mark Elliott, who is currently producing Hardyman's 2009 solo album People Like Me. I think it goes without saying that people like me, who love music which comes from the heart, cannot wait to hear this album and see what else Miss Hardyman has to offer. I already suspect it has the potential to be one of 2009's best.
Helen Mitchell