Angela Easterling

Press Quotes

"Angela is really great and her record is a joy."  Buddy Miller

"Angela Easterling & Brandon Turner are the shining example of what Americana music is. It is inspiring. Great songs. Great singing. Great guitar playing. Everything is so tasty. They have got it."  Jim Lauderdale
                                                                                                                                                                            
"Angela Easterling is a bright shining star on the country/folk/alt.music horizon! Her gift is so special. I loved listening to her CD! Brought me back to the time the Byrds recorded "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" - tradition meets youthful exuberance!" Roger McGuinn, The Byrds

"Angela Easterling has the fire in her belly. With songs inspired by Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones and A.P. Carter's bones, power, corruption, sex, lies, videotape, French microphones, epic floods and plain old human heartache, Angela is creating literate, modern Southern music for the ages." Will Kimbrough

“Songwriter Easterling’s voice has been described as a composite of the likes of Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith, all of which result in “evocative singing and ability to pull every emotion out of a song’s lyrics.” She applies her lyrical involvement to her songwriting which is extensive, her many albums filled with storytelling reflective of her South Carolina roots and creation of characters. Along with the talents of her longtime musical collaborator, Brandon Turner, their harmonies are balanced, beautiful and encourage peace with the world.” The Daily Press

“Angela Easterling’s latest album strongly suggests she’s well worthy of wider recognition. The songs vary in tone and tempo, from the sublime sentiment of “California” and the reflective emotions of “Home,” to the steady stride that underscores “Little Boy Blues” and the echoes of bluegrass shard in “Middle-Age Dream.” Yet she doesn’t shy away from more troubling topics as well, be it gun violence, gender discrimination, or in a telling replay of the Woody Guthrie classic folk narrative, “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” the tragic consequences of a failed immigration policy. Decidedly assertive, Witness is an implicitly energized set of songs, and as a result, absolutely essential. American Songwriter's Top 24 Albums of 2022” - Lee Zimmerman, American Songwriter 

 

“Easterling’s arresting vocals bathe our hearts in cascading phrasing and heart-on-the-sleeve clarity and purity. Her vocals are part Loretta Lynn, part Nanci Griffith, and part Emmylou Harris....Easterling ought to be better known. Her evocative singing and her ability to pull every emotion out of a song’s lyrics, as well as her ingenious songwriting, is on full display on Witness, so perhaps this album will make her a household name.” - Henry Carrigan, No Depression

 

“Keep your eyes on Angela Easterling. The Upstate singer/songwriter is making some serious noise with the long-awaited “Witness,” a dynamic collection of songs that move from autobiography to storytelling with incredible ease. With Easterling’s Rosanne Cash-esque voice leading the way, “Witness” is an absolute winner, mixing folk, rock and country and stating her case as one of our best singer/songwriters. Even on the album’s lone cover, a version of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” that seems sadly more relevant than ever, Easterling’s original voice shines through.” - Vincent Harris, Free Times Favorite Albums of 2022 

 

“Hook-laden, poetic, Angela Easterling’s new release is a masterful collection of highly personal songs, revealing her varied life and giving us a wonderful personal insight. In addition, she and her husband and longterm musical companion, Brandon Turner, give us some skilful musicianship and a selection of first-class tunes.You can tell why the likes of Jim Lauderdale are fans – Easterling has a poet’s eye for lyrics and story-telling and a redoubtable musical style, which makes this album something special.” - Paul Russell, AmericanaUK 

 

“Equipped with excellent compositional skills and a crystalline voice, Angela Easterling gives us a record of great impact which inspires for the entire duration of a rich selection both musically and in terms of lyrics…A singer-songwriter who has definitely reached artistic maturity.”

- Remo Ricaldone, Lonestar Time 

 

“A very rich, timeless and memorable listen from a songwriter with a wealth of talent and sincerity.” - Tom Haugen, Take Effect Reviews 

 

“‘Witness“ is a personal, intimate album woven through with the universal appeal of concerted independence…The Americana/Roots world is richer for the presence of singers and songwriters such as Angela Easterling.” - Donald Tepleske, Fervor Coulee, Roots Music Opinion

 

“Angela Easterling’s new album, Witness is a triumph of songwriting. Easterling masterfully ducks in and out of the best subgenres Americana has to offer while holding on to one important kernel: radical vulnerability. Whether she’s slinging skronky blues or heartfelt folk, Easterling’s songs cut to the quick.”  - Rachel Cholst, Adobe and Teardrops

 

“A melodic mix of Americana, homegrown country and rock, ‘Witness’ resonates with heartfelt lyrics and powerful storytelling.” - Zena Grieg, Penny Black Music, UK

 

“With her sixth album Angela Easterling continues to make very special albums that gleam and resonate in their own unique way. Beautiful, sprawling gems, her songs shimmer through styles and showcase that rare quality of intelligent, emotional music. Delicately and attentively crafted, each song feels like an extension of the crystalline, country-folk-fueled leaf that she turns as she soars on wings of resilience and redemption, but not before walking through the valley of the shadows of pain and abuse and desolate loneliness. Her lyrics weave the personal and political into highly relatable songs that seem designed to strike an emotional chord while tapping into the zeitgeist.. Angela’s luminous voice mirrors the rich, emotional quotient of her themes, breathing life into songs that balance contemplative compassion with a righteous fury.” - Alan Cackett, Alan Cackett 

 

“Another fine album with superb lyrics. 4 1/2 out of 5 Stars” - Paul Riley, Country Music People

 

“Angela Easterling writes songs that the greats of American roots music would not be ashamed of and performs them with confidence. “Witness” stands out for its beautiful and timeless roots sound with influences from folk, country, blues and bluegrass. Angela Easterling has a voice that is made for American roots music and it is not only a very beautiful voice, but also a voice full of warmth and feeling. She’s on my radar as a roots musician who deserves to be watched.”

- Erwin Zijleman, De krenten uit de pop

 

“Singer-songwriter Angela Easterling and her musical and life partner, Brandon Turner, deliver a rich album of eleven originals that run the gamut from parenthood to gun violence to gender identity, and by covering Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee,” immigration issues as well. This deeply personal album reveals a stunning array of emotions. Kudos to Easterling and Turner for varying the music to make even the starkest lyrics go down easy. Easterling sings with honest conviction and the album bears all the necessary ingredients – solid songwriting, top-notch musicianship, and lyrical touches that range from direct to symbolic.” - Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine

 

“Just when I was having a ‘blip’ reviews wise recently, along comes Angela Easterling (AND Brandon Turner) who have re-awakened my love of a well written, constructed and arranged song that not just ‘tells a story’ but touches the heart in many different ways.” - Alan Harrison, The Rocking Magpie

 

“Angela avoids country-pop trappings & relies on the roots of country music in "Witness" Her voice has a country-commercial appeal of 60s Americana singers who ventured into the pop charts with success. Her songs are composed with a flair for mainstream consumption without carrying along the baggage of any flavor-of-the-month tunes often issued by country radio regulars.” - John Apice, Americana Highways 

 

“The themes are many and varied, running the gamut from relationships and family to personal worldviews, political unrest, and everything in between. You will smile with her; you will cry for her. So, check out Angela Easterling’s Witness and experience the shining yet sometimes stark reality of the “Middle-Age Dream.”” - Will Phoenix, Hvy.com 

  

“Socially conscious tunes with a voice like Emmylou Harris.” - Donna Isbell Walker, The Greenville News 

 

“Easterling captivates listeners with insightful, often funny, lyrics about present-day life.”

- Susan Pierce, Chattanooga Times Free Press 

 

“Angela (has) appeared with Lucinda Williams, and you can hear a songwriting lineage between them too, rich rural imagery paired with clear, bone-deep emotion.” - Ashley Warlick, Edible Upcountry 

 

“One of the great pleasures of this job is coming across unknown or little-known gems and sharing them with readers. Angela Easterling is one such find. She is a rising star in the Americana-singer/songwriter world. Her voice rings clear and strong, and her songs tell stories as deeply rooted and real as the South Carolina farm she lives on that’s been in her family since 1791.” - Dan Duke, The Virginian-Pilot 

 

“‘Common Law Wife’ is a wonderfully cohesive, brilliantly crafted and beautifully sung record that draws on traditional country, Americana and folk music to deliver a host of timeless songs. If Angela Easterling was celebrated before, then this record is sure to help the cause.” - Vickye, For The Country Record 

  

““Common Law Wife” is a delight from beginning to end and could be the record that helps raise Easterling’s profile considerably....This one’s a winner, y’all"”- Jeffrey Sisk, Pittsburgh In Tune

  

"Common Law Wife" is Angela's best album yet, with every track sounding as good (or better) than folks like Miranda Lambert or Kacey Musgraves. She's that good. My personal favorite tracks are "Throwing Strikes," about baseball and cotton mills, and "Hammer". I cannot recommend this one any stronger. This girl is on the way to the very top with a bullet. - Michael Buffalo Smith, Kudzoo Magazine

 

“Angela Easterling's autobiographical song (Common Law Wife) is full of charm, humor, and love.” - Adrien Begrand, PopMatters 

 

“Angela Easterling knows about telling story and creating character through word and melody: all twelve of the songs on Common Law Wife are originals... the South Carolina native tells stories which reach from the jaunty, celebratory title track to a murder ballad that’s certainly in the tradition of such songs but seen from a bit of different point in the story. There’s also a piece about letting go of an old love which offers fresh and poetic imagery, a meditation on generations past and present and yet to come, a story of baseball, mill towns, and the small town south, a tale from the Civil Rights Era, and the opening track, Hammer, which among other things is a powerful yet understated thought about the strength of songs. Easterling knows how to fashion these varied songs while keeping her own steady point of view and identity; she knows how to sing them too. If you have not heard Angela Easterling yet, you should: she’ll give you a lot to think about.” - Kerry Dexter, Perceptive Travel 

 

"Easterling, can be political, personal or simultaneously both, serving up humor as well as grim horror. The gorgeous opening track, “Hammer,” was inspired by Pete Seeger and her grandfather, who built the house she lives in on a farm that her family has owned since 1791. Written in a Bruce Springsteen/Steve Earle vein, “Throwing Strikes” ends in emotional release reminiscent of a scene in Depression-Era Bonnie and Clyde. Her voice can be angelic when a song’s story line isn’t at all. Intense “Arkansas Murder Ballad” calls to mind Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ “Caleb Meyer.” Easterling’s earlier “The Picture” may be the most devastating song I’ve ever heard on race relations. Someone should recommend Easterling’s CDs to Mr. Earle the Elder. - Bruce Sylvester, Goldmine Magazine 

 

“Angela Easterling’s voice reminds me of Emmylou Harris. It has that same range and purity. Her songs reflect the authentic Southern life with a contemporary twist...."Common Law Wife" is a beautiful album which captures the heart and soul of authentic country and folk music. It belongs in the collection of any lover of Americana and roots music.” - Rhetta, Making a Scene 

 

"Angela's new album is one of the best I've heard this year...."

- Joe Wolfe-Mazeres, Ear To The Ground Music

 

“4 Stars. Angela Easterling sets scenes and conveys emotions in a manner most convincing, be they light-hearted or downright unsettling. The South Carolina-based singer/songwriter does so by way of uncomplicated melodies, frequently graced with pleasing two-part harmonies. That latter trait shows up early on the haunting leadoff track, “Hammer”. Angst meets athletics for the Springsteen-ish protagonist of “Throwing Strikes” and we meet a 21st century Donna Fargo on the upbeat, throwback title track. Darker moments await on “Isaac Woodard’s Eyes” and “Arkansas Murder Ballad”.” - Duane Verh, Roots Music Report

 

“Angela Easterling offers diary pages for the characters that flesh out Common Law Wife. She tells the tale of a returning soldier with “Isaac Woodard's Eyes”, where the uniform that fought for freedom finds blindness in the justice at home, and tells the tale of shortened life story with “Arkansas Murder Ballad”. Angela gives motherhood thanks for being a muse, as Common Law Wife explores the complexities, struggles and joys of her experiences. Angela strikes “Hammer” with a confident swing in the rhythms that course under the ghosts in its story, strums a Classic Country to fit into the old pair of jeans she finds in the drawer in “Table Rock”, and watches “The Flame” slowly rise in a lost love’s new relationship.” - Danny McCloskey, The Alternate Root

 

"Common Law Wife" is a rootsy album that showcases Easterling's sweet voice and a stellar band....(She) peppers "Throwing Strikes with metaphors to expose rust belt decay, where once-prosperous mills are shuttered. It could fit neatly on a Springsteen CD....The musicianship is outstanding.

 - Brad Knowles, Denison Newspapers 

 

“Easterling has quickly become a sought after talent thanks to her honesty and authenticity, capturing a true, salt of the earth aesthetic with her gorgeous pipes and commitment to carefully crafted lyrics. The beautiful harmonies between Easterling and her longtime partner and musical collaborator, Brandon Turner, are perfectly, delicately balanced and contrast the harmony she speaks of in the song—finding peace and beauty in the hard work done side by side with ones neighbors. The lonesome, yearning quality of the song, drawn out by rich instrumentation, mirrors the simple, pastoral landscape of the video, with Easterling and her partner’s presence helping to evoke the emphasis placed on bloodline, commitment to a land to which you and your forebears rightfully belong.” - Elmore Magazine 

 

“Easterling is an Americana artist who, despite often hitting beautiful lilting notes with her voice, is prone to singing about hard times as many of the best folk-inspired artists are. A perfect example is the album’s striking opening cut, “Hammer” with its working man ethos and a lyric that includes the line, “With a hammer in my hand till the setting sun.” “Throwing Strikes” is similarly-themed as it chronicles the downfall of a mill town and one of its residents, albeit set to a bouncier country melody. Other highlights include “Arkansas Murder Ballad,” one more hard times tale in “Lay My Head” and the twangy and winsome title cut which owes a bit of a debt to Buck Owens.” - Kevin Weirzbicki, AXS 

 

“Easterling has a bright, clear voice with traditional country inflections, well complemented by Turner’s vocal harmony. Her country-rooted songs are often about personal life experiences, family and that most noble of signature Southern attributes: family connection to the land and hard work over the course of generations.”- Mark Gresham, Arts Atlanta

 

“Is it really that much of a jump from Etta Jones or Hedy West to Easterling? No matter what it is, she's writing about what she knows as autobiographically as Joni Mitchell would, she's just doing it from the folk rock side of the ledger with a country twang. The funny thing about Americana is that it aims for the heart rather than the chart which explains how tasty stuff like this flies under the radar but gets well known. This is the rocked up sound of the exurbs as Wal-Mart eats another one off the landscape. Check it out.”- Chris Spector, Midwest Record 

 

"Easterling is the star. Her ability to shift so easily between upbeat rockers and bleak folk ballads is a feat of varied song craft. There’s nothing common about it" - Kevin Oliver, Columbia Free Times

 

"Innocence and clarity so fresh as to be dangerous." - Eric Thom, Maverick 

 

““Angela Easterling has a golden glowing voice and she writes observant songs about contemporary life. She can weave urban sprawl and cultural shifts into songs as gingerly as love and relationships. She’s taken her very promising career to a new level with her new album Beguiler.””

- Craig Havighurst, Music City Roots

  

"Easterling's smart tunes and spunky delivery put her in a category with Americana songbirds such as Tift Merritt and Shelby Lynne." - Sam McDonald, DailyPress.com 

  

"Angela Easterling has the fire in her belly. With songs inspired by Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones and A.P. Carter's bones, power, corruption, sex, lies, videotape, French microphones, epic floods and plain old human heartache, Angela is creating literate, modern Southern music for the ages."- Will Kimbrough

 

"Best Political Country Song" - Angela Easterling - "The Picture"

- Daniel Gewertz, Boston Herald, Best of 2009 Music

 

“Dynamite honky-tonk singer Angela Easterling brings a tough traditionalist sound to ballads and ravers alike on her fine new CD Black Top Road.” - Philadelphia Inquirer

 

"If Steve Earle was reborn as a girl, he’d very likely be Angela Easterling. And Blacktop Road is her Guitar Town . She comes surging out of the chute like a spurred bronco, full of sideways kicks, bucking with all the compressed energy of a coiled steel spring." - Steven Stone, Vintage Guitar Magazine

 

“Angela Easterling is a quietly plaintive singer who rewards attentive listening. Her Blacktop Road is out-and-out "alt. country," A lot of the songs here sound like they've been around for years—that's a compliment—including the sweetly yearning cover of "Helpless."” - Editor's Picks, Oxford American

  

“BlackTop Road is soaked in an intelligence and far-reaching historical sense that makes you suspect its origins couldn’t be entirely human, or at least that all of these songs and performances couldn’t have emanated from one young woman. The clarity and consistency of the narrative voice make (you) feel like you’re learning quite a bit about Angela Easterling. Above all else, the thing you’ll learn is that, regardless of what may come her way, she’ll be fine. There’s no stopping a talent of this magnitude."

- C.M. Wilcox, Country California

 

“A heartfelt album of personal experience, adding youth to tradition. An intelligent and Introspective writer.”- Larry Kelly, Maverick UK

 

“There's an old head on young shoulders in her writing and she shows that underneath there's a burning ambition to not be good, but to be great…there's a personal honesty and splash of life that jumps out at you.” - Andrew Wiliiams, Americana UK 

   

“Easterling is a songwriter who makes listeners feel, think and see.The world can be ugly, but somehow her voice can make anything softer, easier to manage. Harsh stories have beauty.”

- Otis Taylor, The State (Columbia, SC)

 

"This is country Roots rediscovered and played the way it was always meant to be played."

- SmartChoiceMusic.com

 

"Easterling has created an enchanting brand of neo-traditionalist country that mixes hard-edged honky tonk with fetching ballads. Her voice is a gorgeous instrument."

- Jim McGuinness, Kingsport Times

 

Venues Performed