Tami Neilson Brings Feminist Ferocity to 'Kingmaker'
“Behind every good man there's a good woman” is an adage Tami Neilson agrees with. Except for the behind part. The women portrayed on her new album Kingmaker fall into two categories; women who aren't standing behind anybody and women who are only behind because they started there, hurdling pay inequity, claims of “cancel culture,” and being the “tomatoes on the salad” that is country radio (spoiler: It's a pretty crappy salad).
One of the highlights of the album is “Careless Woman,” with its minimalist verses accompanied primarily by claps. In it, Neilson tells of a woman who “plays too rough and talks too much, she's just too much” before enthusing “I wanna be her when I grow up.” Throughout she encounters men who insist she “don't talk like you got any thoughts in your head” and remind her “your body is mine, to play with it, legislate it, honey I'll decide.” In the face of this she returns to the “careless woman” and chants “care less... I wanna care less” like a mantra.
The predator, unfortunately, prevails in “Green Peaches.” It's the story of a young woman who dreams of music stardom and meets a producer who conveniently hugs away her tears of joy when he insists “there ain't no one like ya in the whole wide world.” The chorus confirms what is expected, the producer is a pro at picking “green peaches” right off the tree, exploiting young songwriters and dropping them when he finds a younger one. After this pause, the next verse finds the girl walking down the road holding a baby when a passing car stops and asks her if she's “that girl who had a hit or two?” She insists she's not, but is often mistaken for her, before walking away humming the chorus of her hit quietly to the baby.
These two poles meet on “The King of Country Music” where Neilson poses the question of why the “King” of country can't be a woman? After all, she notes that she opened for Kitty Wells as a child and “sometimes that country music pedigree is earned.” So Neilson's solution is to buy a guitar for pickin'... fights. It's a fair question as anyone with sense (aka not the tomato moron) knows Dolly Parton is the Emperor of Country Music for life.
Even a viciously topical album needs a rest break and on Kingmaker it's a duet with country's most feminist man, Willie Nelson. “Beyond the Stars” is a straightforward western ballad straight out of the Marty Robbins school of western swing. As is always the case, Willie is stellar, taking his moment in the spotlight and then fading back to leave no doubt this is Neilson's album and he's her guest. If Dolly Parton is the Emperor of Country Music, Willie has to be a Duke of some variety.
It's only been a short time since I released my list of favorite Americana albums of 2022 so far. Kingmaker came out less than half a month too late to make that list, but I can tell you if it had, it'd have been #1. At this point, I'll be surprised if it's not #1 at the end of the year. Barring a surprise release from one of Americana's titans (Rhiannon Giddens, Sarah Jarosz), Tami is as unstoppable as the women on her album.