ESMÉ PATTERSON SIGNS TO XTRA MILE RECORDINGS

'The Glow’ is the first track to be made available from a unique concept album by acclaimed US singer/songwriter and new signing to Xtra Mile Recordings, Esmé Patterson.  

Woman to Woman is her second solo album and is to be released through Xtra Mile Recordings worldwide (ex. North America) on 2 February 2015. You can preorder from our very own online shop, from Amazon or via iTunes.

The former member of Americana group Paper Bird, she has written 10 songs from the perspective of famous women immortalised in song on Woman to Woman, including singing from Dolly Parton protagonist Jolene’s point of view on the track ‘Never Chase A Man’; ‘What Do You Call A Woman’ is a response to Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’; and ‘Valentine’ is the voice of Elvis Costello’s 'Alison'.   

As Patterson explains "I was learning to play a Townes Van Zandt song called 'Loretta' ...and I started thinking about how many songs were just a woman's name, and how these women are frozen in time, and frozen as archetypes, frozen in black and white. And I thought they deserved to be coloured in."  She was invited to discuss the idea, before the record was made, at a TEDx conference in 2013.

Lead track ‘The Glow’ is a reply to the Beach Boys track ‘Caroline, No’ which appeared on the classic Pet Sounds album. The New York Times said: "Her voice is wiry and candid, backed by arrangements that roll along the folk-country borderline. Some songs proclaim self-determination and defiance; others, like 'The Glow' - imagining the Beach Boys' Caroline - hint at mystery and mortality.” Listen for yourselves.

The Glow is taken from 'Woman To Woman' released by Xtra Mile Recordings on 2nd February 2015. Pre-order: When Esme Patterson was learning to play Townes Van Zandt's song "Loretta," she says she started singing the words and got angry. "I started thinking about how one-sided and subjective a lot of 'love songs' are, and how a lot of women immortalized in songs might tell a different side of the story if anyone ever asked." Fueled by this epiphany, Patterson started writing songs for Woman to Woman, an album of response songs to Dolly Parton's "Jolene," Elvis Costello's "Alison," Van Zandt's "Loretta," the Beach Boys' "Caroline, No," The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," the Band's "Evangeline" and Leadbelly's "Irene."

Patterson also appears on several tracks on the new Shakey Graves album, and performed with him in late October on Conan O Brien's show in the US.  The song ‘Dearly Departed’ has been streamed nearly 3 million times to date and she has been supporting Graves on tour in the US.

Patterson’s songwriting is at the heart of the folk and roll explosion in Denver, Colorado and. since her emergence as a solo artist. this fierce and brilliant songwriter's altitude and velocity has only increased.

Woman To Woman tracklisting: 
(Corresponding popular songs each track responds to are listed in parentheses)
1. Valentine (Elvis Costello - 'Alison') 
2. Never Chase A Man (Dolly Parton - 'Jolene')
3. Oh Let’s Dance (The Kinks – ‘Lola’)
4. Tumbleweed (Townes Van Zandt - 'Loretta')
5. What Do You Call A Woman (Michael Jackson – ‘Billie Jean’)
6. The Glow (The Beach Boys - 'Caroline, No')
7. Louder Than the Sound (The Band - 'Evangeline')
8. Bluebird (The Beatles - 'Eleanor Rigby')
9. A Dream (Leadbelly - 'Goodnight Irene')
10. Wildflower (Bob Dylan – ‘To Ramona’)