Wandering Star

Originally from Northern California, singer and songwriter Haylie Davis dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles in 2019 to focus on music. Her affection for lyricists like Gram Parsons and Joni Mitchell as well as the soft, warm sounds of 70s singer/songwriters and the Laurel Canyon movement soon resulted in collaborations with acts like Drugdealer, Sylvie, and Sam Burton under the solo moniker Lady Apple Tree. She eventually left that persona behind and used her own name to record her solo debut album with associates including Burton. The resulting Wandering Star was tracked partly at Los Angeles famed Valentine Recording Studios (Bing Crosby, the Beach Boys, Lana Del Rey) and partly at Love Magnet, the Highland Park garage studio of Ian Doerr (Lana Del Rey, Drugdealer). Davis musical influences couldnt be clearer on songs like the plushly arranged "Golden Age," a relatively brisk, uplifting acoustic pop tune within an album that varies its moods and stylistic undertones. She opts for a more midtempo classic country on the steel guitar-injected "Young Man," a song that laments being alone but refuses "to let the blues begin again." Meanwhile, "Born to Be Blue" is a bluesier entry, while "Country Boy" is a more straightforward soft rock ballad with floating modal transitions. The latter song evokes Debby Boone more than a Mitchell or Carole King, especially given Davis pure vocal tone. The cheerful "Give Me a Rainbow" better calls to mind the Laurel Canyon scene by making a bright folk-pop anthem out of its title and lyrics like "Sing me a song to set me free." She mixes things up a bit again with sparser entries like the yearning "Horns of Time" and the lilting acoustic guitar closer, "Mourning Dove." Taken together, Wandering Star sounds a little like an audition reel in terms of its youthful, range-stretching vocal performances and varied songwriting approaches, with no shade intended regarding her execution, the albums sound quality, or her accomplished supporting crew, who leave the spotlight on the promising singer/songwriter throughout. ~ Marcy Donelson