Kelley Mickwee’s “Gold Standard” is a Classic Country Gem |
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| NEW YORK — March 4, 2022 — Kelley Mickwee has spent the past two decades making a name for herself in her home state of Texas – most recently, as part of Kevin Russell’s Shinyribs’ Shiny Soul Sisters, singing harmony and background vocals at his live show, and as one-fourth of the acclaimed Americana group The Trishas. Within the past year, she’s re-focused her efforts on her solo work, beginning with a set of singles in 2021 recorded with singer-songwriter Jonathan Tyler and culminating with “Gold Standard,” out now. |
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| “Sometimes, what gets lost amongst it all though is the sheer strength and brilliance of Kelley Mickwee as a stand-alone artist…She kicks off 2022 with the even more forthright ‘Gold Standard’, as Mickwee lets her inner Connie Smith rip on this belting country ballad."
– Holler |
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| Replete with pedal steel and fiddle, “Gold Standard” takes a page out of the classic country songbook. Written with Owen Temple, the song is about the kind of love we all measure our own against, the couples who fill the frames on the wall, the ones who have loved each other their whole lives. It’s about all the work it takes to get there, just the same. |
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| “’Gold Standard’ taps into the magic of classic country duets from the 70s. Through vivid imagery and sharp honesty, Mickwee’s lyrics feel universally relatable…”
– The Boot |
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| Mickwee released “Don’t Miss You At Austin” in December, a duet with Dan Dyer that ponders their hometown’s changing landscape. Glide Magazine said the track “carries a playful spirit that is amplified by the musical chemistry between these two singer-songwriters.” She also released a set of A-side and B-side singles called Boomtown to Bust in October. “Boomtown to Bust” is a waltz through-and-through, Side B, “Let’s Just Pretend (We’re Holding Hands),” is a story of unrequited love, with a little tinge of hope weaved in.
This set of four singles marks Mickwee’s first original releases since 2014’s You Used to Live Here, her debut solo record. Although she was already a seasoned artist at that point with a decade’s worth of experience under her belt, up until then all of her performing and recording experience had been as part of a unit, as one-fourth of the acclaimed Americana group The Trishas, with Jamie Lin Wilson, Savannah Welch and Liz Foster, and previously one-half of the Memphis-based duo Jed and Kelley. But sometimes what gets lost in the shuffle of all the well-deserved acclaim for what she adds to other artist’s work is the music she makes in her own right. Mickwee is also still an active partner (alongside co-founders Susan Gibson, Walt Wilkins, Drew Kennedy, and Josh Grider) in the Red River Songwriters Festival, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022. ### |
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