Danni Nicholls - A Little Redemption (2013)

At a young age, Bedford, U.K., singer/songwriter Danni Nicholls was exposed to American folk, country, and rock music through her grandmother's record collection. When she eventually inherited her uncle's vintage Burns London short-scale jazz guitar at age 16, it seemed only natural that she would gravitate toward that American roots sound. Her talents as a songwriter and singer developed quickly and she began gigging around the U.K. She released her first EP, Heavy Shoes, in 2010. The following year, through a mutual friend in London, Nicholls was introduced to Nashville-based producer Chris Donohue (the Civil Wars, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant) who was on tour with Emmylou Harris at the time. Donohue was impressed by Nicholls' music and agreed to bring her back to Nashville to record her debut LP. Alongside a band made up of seasoned Nashville studio vets, Nicholls and Donohue recorded a richly detailed album of soulful country and Americana that recalls artists like Rosanne Cash and Patsy Cline. That same year, Nicholls worked in London with British producer Iain Archer (Jake Bugg, Snow Patrol, Tired Pony) on the four-track EP Time, which would arrive in early 2013. After signing with Transmission Records, her Donohue-produced debut LP A Little Redemption was released later that year.

4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t slips effortlessly between smoky soul, folk-pop and heart-wrenching alt-country, all in a rich voice somewhere between Ms Harris and Alison Krauss."