What better way to celebrate this Mother’s Day weekend, expressing appreciation and adoration to all loving and selfless mothers out there, than listening to Nashville, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter Gillian Welch’s previously recorded song aptly titled, “Happy Mother’s Day.” The aforementioned track which was released Friday May 8, according to a press release, “…Gillian Welch debuts the song “Happy Mother’s Day” in celebration of the holiday. This release is on Acony Records, the independent record label she and partner David Rawlings founded in 2001, and comes from a newly rediscovered cache of demos and home recordings from the early 2000s.”
Welch has released a total of five full-length studio albums all with the guitar accompaniment provided by her musical partner, David Rawlings. Welch’s discography dates back to her 1996 debut Revival, her sophomore follow up 1998’s Hell Among The Yearlings, her third album 2001’s Time (The Revelator), her fourth album 2003’s Soul Journey and her latest album, which was released eight years later, 2011’s The Harrow & The Harvest.
Welch’s most notable appearance in both the film (as a cameo) and its accompanied Grammy-winning soundtrack was in the Coen Brother’s Academy Award-nominated film 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou?. She appeared along with Alison Krauss on the song “I’ll Fly Away” and again on “Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby” along with Krauss and Emmylou Harris. This wouldn’t be Welch’s last time collaborating with The Coen Brothers as she appeared, along with Rawlings, on the soundtrack to their 2018 film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs on the song “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” which was nominated for Best Original Song.
An amalgamation of genres that blend traditional bluegrass, Appalachian music, gospel and folk together is comprised of Welch’s musical stylings. It’s no surprise that Welch’s latest track “Happy Mother’s Day” follows suit, providing her listeners with wholesome and heartwarming old-time music. The track’s soft plucking strings is as soothing as Welch’s angelic southern vocals that makes up for the songs simple brevity. The accompanied video comes complete with a black and white photo displaying sunflowers, a loving sentiment that makes for a delightful listen. According to Welch’s official website, the folk singer spoke on the genesis of the song saying:
“We can’t always be with the ones we love, but that can’t stop us from saying ‘I love you.’ I wrote this song one May when I was far away and couldn’t be with my mom on Mother’s Day. Then I called and sang it into her answering machine when I knew everybody’d be sitting down to eat. Here is the original home demo for the song, recorded on a portable reel to reel.”
To listen to “Happy Mother’s Day” stream below, via YouTube.
Leave a Comment