The Trishas High, Wide & Handsome

The Trishas
High, Wide & Handsome
(The Trishas Music)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This Austin based female quartet (named after Ms. Yearwood) has a previous EP and has done duty backing up Ray Wylie Hubbard and Kevin Welch (his daughter Savannah is a member), but this debut album is a stunning introduction to the harmony rich singer/songwriters. The music builds on slow to medium tempos and the lyrics, often about lost, tarnished or unrequited love, dovetail exquisitely with the low key, occasionally swampy accompaniment. One singer typically takes the lead, and the others fall in, adding sumptuous backing to songs which you’ll be singing after the first listen. Take the Dixie Chicks or the Pistol Annies, add another voice, subtract the sass and you’ve got the Trishas. These often doe-eyed acoustic based songs float instead of sting with tracks such as the bluesy “Rainin’ Inside” and the high lonesome “Strangers” standouts on a rootsy, beautifully recorded, intimately played and sumptuously sung fourteen track set with no filler.