Vincent Neil Emerson Vincent Neil Emerson (CD)

(La Honda Records) 10 tracks, digisleeve

The new 10-track self-titled album from East Texas-born country singer-songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson.

East Texas-born songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson first made waves on the country scene with his debut Fried Chicken and Evil Women (2019). The record staked his claim to a place in the true and straight-ahead end of the genre championed by the likes of Townes van Zandt and Guy Clark.

Emerson was in a rough patch during last year's Lockdown, frustrated at not being able to play in front of a live audience. Instead, he retreated to his shed and began writing new material.

The result is a brand new self-titled album produced by Rodney Crowell, an album that promises to continue the same thread of unpretentious country but with an increasingly personal edge.

The floodgates opened for me in songwriting and emotionally, he says of the writing process, which led him to grapple with some very intimate issues.