Singer/songwriter and upright bassist Melissa Carper has unveiled “Ramblin’ Soul,” the title track from her forthcoming LP due out on November 18th via Mae Music/Thirty Tigers. The song and its accompanying video embody the spirit of Carper’s album. 

“I wrote ‘Ramblin’ Soul’ driving down the road on a familiar trip from Arkansas back down to Texas,” said Carper. “I had just spent time with some musician friends and was feeling re-energized. On this trip, I realized just how much that free, ramblin’ life I’ve lived over the years has stimulated my creative process.  Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee have been states I just keep making the rounds to, as well as New Mexico and Minnesota, so these places made their way into the song,” Carper added. “I say ‘you can’t keep me in a hole, ’cause Lord I’m a ramblin’ soul.’ By that I mean, if something isn’t working for me and making me happy or it seems I’ve gotten in a rut somewhere, then I move on to whatever the next thing is that feels right, or I get out of town for a bit to find some new inspiration and fresh perspective.  That is really the gist of it, trying to go with the flow of life wherever it seems the Universe is guiding me.”

“Ramblin’ Soul” follows the release of lead single, “Ain’t A Day Goes By.” Carper penned the soulful track in 2014 after the death of her beloved dog, Betty. “This song is very emotional for me,” she reveals. “It was difficult to go through my Dad’s death, then my Mom’s death only a year later, and really, in a sense, losing my younger brother to severe mental health issues that have changed his personality completely,” she says. “Betty’s death crushed me because she had been through it all with me. The grief just started pouring out at that point.” 

After the success of her critically-acclaimed 2021 release Daddy’s Country Gold, Carper was eager to get back in the studio. With co-producers Andrija Tokic (St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Hurray For The Riff Raff) and Dennis Crouch (The Time Jumpers) behind the boards again at Tokic’s analog paradise The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, Carper assembled that same crew of magical music makers – plus a few more – to join her on the adventure.

In 2020, grappling with the loss of regular gigs, Carper and her partner, award-winning fiddler Rebecca Patek, moved to a friend’s farm near Austin, working in exchange for housing, organic vegetables, and fresh, country air. The simpler life afforded Carper the space and rejuvenation needed to channel her muse, and begin writing for her next album. 

Ramblin’ Soul, which features upbeat and diverse styles and grooves, boasts ten Carper originals, along with a co-write with life-long ramblin’ buddy and bandmate Gina Gallina, a song written by friend and frequent collaborator Brennen Leigh, and a reimagined classic from folk pioneer Odetta. The album ventures into blues, early rock n’ roll, and old-school soul, blended with Carper’s signature styles of country, western swing, and jazz. 

The album is available for pre-order HERE

Photo Courtesy: Lyza Renee