Kathy Mattea Releases Track From First Album In Six Years

Kathy Mattea. Photo: Reto Sterchi

Kathy Mattea has released “I Can’t Stand Up Alone,” the first single from her upcoming release Pretty Bird, out September 7.

Pretty Bird is Mattea’s first studio album in six years, following 2012’s Follow Me Home, and is available for pre-order.

Recorded over the course of a year with Tim O’Brien as producer, the album opens with a playful take on Oliver Wood’s “Chocolate On My Tongue” before a soulful rendition of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe.”

The Mary Gauthier-penned “Mercy Now” is a prayer for understanding in these troubled times, while Joan Osborne’s “St. Teresa” takes on new life in light of the ravages that addiction has wrought on the singer’s home state of West Virginia. Stripped down songs are included as the British traditional “He Moves Through The Fair” and the Hazel Dickens title track.

Pretty Bird track listing
Chocolate On My Tongue
Ode To Billie Joe
Mercy Now
Little Glass Of Wine
He Moves Through The Fair
St. Teresa
This Love Will Carry
October Song
Tell Me What You Ache For
Holy Now
I Can’t Stand Up Alone
Pretty Bird