Fiddle player steeped in bluegrass busked full-time before landing in Nashville at a moment when her spiritual sound is needed.
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Milly Raccoon as photographed by Eli Meltzer
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Milly Raccoon | “The Fine Art of Takin’ It Slow”
Milly
Raccoon stands, fiddle in hand, on
the shoulders of Patsy Cline, not
only as an inspiration but also for the grounded emotional support lent by Patsy’s powerful legacy.
Milly’s own take on Nashville is all over the upcoming Frankincense
and Myrrh, arriving July 7. The
album exists in the Nashville of now where messages of spirituality and
liberation are more vital than ever. Milly
delivers her songs with a gauzy, dream-like, and poignant touch that is so easy
on the ears (think Norah Jones or Iris DeMent) that it is easy to forget
that Milly is telling us something
we need to hear.
They used to beat me up for always
Makin the highest grade
Now they just pretend a smile
and turn the other way
The lyric comes from Frankincense and Myrrh’s
upcoming single “That Girl I Left Behind
Me,” in which Milly couples her
words with a “melody that traces back to Elizabethan England when it was sung
by British soldiers.”
The result is a prime example of Milly’s ability to weave the stark reality of modern life over
historical toe-tappers. Milly’s
catalog of influences, and experiences in general, is a vast blueprint for the
music she makes today.
“I played classical violin as a kid, and I became a
big fan of 90s rock and pop, early 20th-century musical theater, traditional
Irish music, and zydeco.
Vast, yes. But Milly
must have been going with the crowd during those all-important,
trying-to-fit-in teen years, right?
“I briefly had a Grateful
Dead cover band in high school.”
Milly’s eclecticism followed her to Seattle after college
where she discovered the bluegrass scene.
“After my first tavern bluegrass jam, I was enchanted
by the musical style and fellowship. I dove into teaching myself bluegrass fiddle,
mandolin, and ukulele.”
In addition to busking regularly, Milly tested her burgeoning abilities by performing as often as
possible, playing in several bands at a time.
An all-female bluegrass band. A honky tonk band. A
band that played Turkish and Egyptian music for a belly dance troupe. An Irish
band. A band that played the traditional music of Mexico and South America.
And many more.
“I’d play every bluegrass festival I could, sometimes
traveling for days by bus to get to out-of-state gatherings,” Milly remembers.
Soon, Milly
started writing her own songs.
Encouraged by the approval of the songwriting heroes
in her musical community, and after losing two of her closest friends to
tragedy, Milly decided that life on
the road without a destination was a life that spoke to her.
“I didn’t have a home for about a year and a half and
just went from town to town, making a living by busking,” she says.
Naturally, Milly
became a more prolific songwriter during this time.
“Eventually it seemed like the next step was to move
to Nashville where I quickly learned that instead of busking, I would have to
focus on more structured realms of performance work.”
It was a tough adjustment. Milly found that her new peers saw her as “strange and woo-woo,”
and that the standards of musicianship in Nashville were daunting.
This situation inspired “That Girl I Left Behind Me,” the song mentioned previously.
Last night while I lay fast asleep
Everybody I know
Reflected on my shortcomings
And switched from friend to foe
“After that, I even felt bolder about expressing my
uncommon-to-Nashville bent,” Milly
says.
This newfound level of confidence led Milly to Grammy®–winning producer Misa Arriaga, known for work with Kasey Musgraves.
“The recording scene in Nashville really opened my
eyes to a level of artistry and excellence I never imagined being a part of,” Milly says.
The product is Frankincense and Myrrh, which Milly refers to as “an ode to sacred
collaborations.” The two related plants have been considered a sacred duet
since before biblical times.”
The record also embodies the ancient process of
alchemy.
“For example, turning lead into gold,” Milly explains. “Or turning poison into
medicine.”
She continues, “What do people use heartbreak,
challenges, tragedies, difficult emotions, religious experiences, taboo
subjects, and other strong feelings for? Making compelling writing, painting,
and music. Making an album is an alchemical process.”
With such a grounded sense of the magic of music,
surely Patsy would be proud to lend Milly her shoulders.
Frankincense and Myrrh by Milly Raccoon
arrives on July 7. The single “That Girl I Left Behind Me” is out May 19.
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Milly
Raccoon | Links
