Juanita’s debut record ‘Hardliner’ established her reputation as a full-hearted, free-spirited, and irresistibly genuine honky-tonk angel while her second, ‘Tennessee Songbird’, broke into the top 40 on the Americana Radio Chart and top 3 on the Alt Country Chart while in 2026 she was named by Grammy.com as one of the five female artists creating the future of country music. When talking about this session Juanita said, “It was completely dark and fairly hot outside, and I remember feeling a little sticky as I sat by myself on a bench singing and playing my guitar for the cicadas and crickets who sing in that yard every night. Dan’s concept for ‘The Magnolia Sessions’ really allows him to capture the feeling of the moment as it passes by, which is something you just don’t get cutting in a studio. Truly special.”
I have not previously come across Hannah before hearing this, and she has that “girl next door” style which makes one think of the Sixties and Seventies. There is a frailty in her voice which at times appears as if it is going to be overwhelmed by her guitar, but what it actually does is drag us in closer, so we don’t lose any of the nuances. It feels as if she is singing just for us as we sit on the ground at her feet and never feels as if this is a commercial recording at all. Emery states that nearly every track on this set was a first take, and there is certainly an honesty and urgency throughout, combined with an innocence and experience which makes us think we are listening to someone with huge life experience who really knows what she is singing about.
Yet another truly classic release from Dan Emery and Anti-Corp, demonstrating clearly what music sounds like when it is performed and captured by those who really care and understand, a million miles away from commercial plasticity and AI.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://www.hannahjuanita.com/
https://anticorpmusic.com/