The Honeycutters - Me Oh My (2015)

It’s easy to think of Mags Bennett, the character played by Margo Martindale on TV’s Justified, when listening to Amanda Anne Platt front North Carolina quartet the Honeycutters. Steadfast, independent and all woman, Platt sings for modernity on the bleak waltz of Me Oh My‘s title track: “Some girls marry and some girls wait / Some girls worry that it’s too late / Some do better without that ball and chain.” Split between one-sided conversations packed with barbed rejoinders as on “Jukebox”, “Edge of the Frame” and the sweeping “Ain’t it the Truth”, and loving benedictions such as “Wedding Song”, “Texas ‘81” and “Lucky”, the 14 vignettes on Me Oh My are voiced by broken hearts that settle, rebound or walk away, all backed by a chorus of steel strings. A tempest formed on a Thursday night, Me Oh My unfurls throughout the weekend, leaving nothing but wreckage come Sunday. Flanked by bandmates Tal Taylor (mandolin), Rick Cooper (bass), Josh Milligan (drums), Matt Smith (pedal steel, electric guitar, dobro) and a cast of characters including Platt’s daddy, I put my money on Platt and the Honeycutters to walk away bruised but victorious.