Ozark Symphony, by Kelly Hunt

Ozark Symphony

by Kelly Hunt

supported by

David E Schipper Stunning in simplicity and artistry; let her transport you to the Ozarks. This is featured on Dave's Basement Tracks Edition 263 Favorite track: Take Me Back to Memphis.

	/

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Packaged in a 6-panel eco-wallet.

Includes unlimited streaming of Ozark Symphony via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 2 days

Purchasable with gift card

$16.98 USD or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more

1.	Ozark Symphony 05:06	lyrics	buy track
The Ozarks they have a certain shade of perfect in the half dark The sun waits just beneath the surface For the changing of the guard And the moon hangs heavy, ready to give way Is that how we are? Two ships passing in the night like opposing stars Just close enough to keep you on the radar But our paths are never pointed the same way And I wonder why, after all this time You are still the one weighing on my mind And I can’t outrun what is here inside of me Clinging to the every word I’m singing I have loved you for a long time The only light I’ve seen All night is the light of my own high beams Searching down the highway for the unforeseen But you seem to be the only thing I find For this is your land And you were raised up in the heart of this, the heartland And it’s as much a part of you now as your old man Oh, part of you will never leave this place And I wonder why, after all this time You are still the one weighing on my mind And I can’t outrun what is here inside of me Clinging to the every word I’m singing I have loved you for a long time I wrote an Ozark Symphony I put my words in the mouths of the birds to sing I taught the wind the part of my own heartstrings I taught the mountains to resound your name So can I now be at peace Knowing that the hills speak on behalf of me And however far away from you, I’ll always be Just as close as the wind and rain And I wonder if, after all this time I am still the one weighing on your mind And if you can’t outrun what is there inside of you Clinging to the every word you’re singing Have you loved me all this time? I have loved you for a long time
2.	You Make Me High 03:51	lyrics	buy track
I stepped down off that little bar stage Sat down in the corner and you made your move You said, “Where’d you learn to sing that way? Makes me long for a place I never knew” You said, “Would you let me lead you out on that floor? I wanna twirl you round for the world to see Could I talk ya into just one more? A little two-step never hurt nobody” You said, “Come on, Mama, let that long hair down Hop on back, take a ride with me We’ll go up north of old downtown Chase that moon along the Missouri” You’re like a shot gone to my brain I get close to you, I get carried away You make me high You make me feel like a lightweight Lying wide awake I can’t get you off of my mind You said, “Let’s lie down under that big ol’ sky... Nowhere to hide, just me and you I gotta tell ya, I’m on man on fire And I’m tired of trying to play it cool” You said, “Mama asks why I don’t bring you home She says, ‘You like that girl, and I know ya do.’ I don’t tell her you’re better off being alone I know I’m no good for you” You’re like a shot gone to my brain I get close to you, I get carried away You make me high You make me feel like a lightweight Lying wide awake I can’t get you off of my mind You said, “What if I could build us a big ol’ wall That could keep that mean, mad world at bay? There’s too many ways for a man to fall And I’m a little too keen on going astray” You said, “You don’t have to say anything at all Just come sit here by my side We’ll listen to the rain fall And for one more night, I’ll pretend you’re mine” You’re like a shot gone to my brain I get close to you, I get carried away You make me high You make me feel like a lightweight Lying wide awake I can’t get you off of my mind
3.	On The Bayou 04:26	lyrics	buy track
Sitting on the banks of the Bayou Têche With grass stains on my party dress I’ve been out all night, painting the town Lost in the shuffle of the weekend crowd But that spell wears off with the fading moon Morning will be breaking soon on the bayou You brought me here on a warm June night And in the flicker of the stars and the fireflies We spent hours I could never forget So now instead of home, sleeping in my bed I’m sitting in the grass in the morning dew Wishing I was here with you On the bayou, oh, on the bayou Oh Evangeline, tell me what you know I’m sitting underneath that old live oak Wondering if the things they say are true And if that star up in the sky Really is a kindly light I pray that it will shine down on me too And guide me on my way back to you If I’d known then what I know now I would have turned the car around And told you all the thoughts that were in my head Freed the ghosts of my old regrets And maybe right now, I’d be by your side Instead of sitting here with my foolish pride On the bayou, oh, on the bayou Oh Evangeline, tell me what you know I’m sitting underneath that old live oak Wondering if the things they say are true And if that star up in the sky Really is a kindly light I pray that it will shine down on me too And guide me on my way back to you Where the crickets and the owls and the bullfrogs sing In the silhouette of the cypress trees Not a worry in the world weighing on their minds Just singing their songs, living their lives And if life was so simple for people too I wouldn’t be sitting here missing you On the bayou, on the bayou Oh Evangeline, tell me what you know I’m sitting underneath that old live oak Wondering if the things they say are true And if that star up in the sky Really is a kindly light, I pray that it will shine down on me too And guide me on my way back to you
4.	Everybody Knows 04:57	lyrics	buy track
Knock, and I will answer Seek, and you will find Everybody knows what’s on my mind You’ll see just who I am If you read between the lines Everybody knows what’s on my mind I can’t hide the way I’m feeling I can’t lie to anyone but myself You’ll see it in my eyes If I fall from grace Everybody knows what’s on my mind I wasn’t born with a poker face Everybody knows what’s on my mind I can’t hide the way I’m feeling I can’t lie to anyone but myself My life is a window to my soul And I can’t pull the curtain closed What story can I tell if not my own? Everybody knows Knock, and I will answer Seek, and you will find Everybody knows what’s on my mind
5.	Evangeline 03:46	lyrics	buy track
What is it that’s brought you to these God-forsaken plains? Without a one to guide you, not a penny to your name And tell me, what’s the substance of that ever-living flame That flies unseen, Evangeline? I would have you here and now I’d take you for my bride I would watch over you, be ever at your side There’s not a thing you’d want for that I could not provide You’d be my queen, Evangeline Would you lay your life down For the one you’ve yet to know? Would you wander the wasteland And abide the driving snow? Would you take up the sword Fit the arrow to the bow All sight unseen, Evangeline? If I was as constant as the bright, cold northern star I would know no darkness, and I would bear no scars And I would hope to one day know the fullness of your heart And never leave, my Evangeline But I have been as wayward as the ever-changing moon Despair will lead a man to things he never dreamed he’d do And sullied as I am, how could I lay a hand on you One so clean, Evangeline? But I would lay my life down For the one I’ve yet to know I would wander the wasteland and abide the driving snow I would take up the sword Fit the arrow to the bow All sight unseen For my Evangeline Show to me your darkness I’ll lend to you my faith Give to me your misery I’ll leave mercy in its place But do not turn away from me Do not hide the face I long to see, cried Evangeline I’ve followed in your footsteps I’ve tasted of your fears I’ve heard your cry upon the wind I’ve walked your trail of tears And though the days between us now amount to years I long to be your Evangeline I would lay my life down For the one I’ve yet to know I would wander the wasteland And abide the driving snow I would take up the sword Fit the arrow to the bow All sight unseen, cried Evangeline
6.	What About Now? 03:15	lyrics	buy track
We said one day, we would run away Well honey, what about now? Why should we wait for somewhere, someday? Honey, what about now? We ain’t getting any younger And time ain’t slowing down No time, no place, like right here, today Honey, what about now? You and I make our great escape Honey, what about now? We ain’t getting any younger And time ain’t slowing down It’s not too late, but there’s no time to waste Honey, what about now? Forget this rat race, set our own pace Honey, what about now? We ain’t getting any younger, And time ain’t slowing down
7.	Top of the World 04:29	lyrics	buy track
At the top of the world, no one around I can see everything, but nothing makes a sound And I’m as weightless and aimless as the passing clouds Looking at a long way down Well you took my hand, and away we flew To the top of the world, I followed you But the distance between us grew and grew Now I’m looking at a long way down Let me down easy when you let me down Gravity pulling me pound by pound As high as I climbed, I’m falling now So let me down easy when you let me down I’m higher now than the birds can fly I could just reach out my hand and touch the sky And the stars are so close, I can feel their fire Looking at a long way down You said what comes around, goes around By the wind I’m blown, but by the world I’m bound So I know what goes up must come down It’s such a long way down I can’t look forward to anything When I’m always watching my back Wondering what I’m missing I never see what I have Hoping and wanting and wishing Dwelling on all I lack Treating life like a one-man mission Running from anything that could possibly hold me back Let me down easy Let me down easy when you let me down Gravity pulling me pound by pound As high as I climbed, I’m falling now So let me down easy when you let me down
8.	Lost Highway 03:31	lyrics	buy track
Headed down the lost highway Haven’t seen another soul out here in days Lord, I’ve gone so astray How will I ever get back now, lord Ever get back now? When I first headed down this road I should have known where it would go, lord There were plenty of signs along the way But I paid them no mind, lord I paid them no mind I know, it’s a dead-end road I’m headed down I know, it’s a dead-end road, gotta turn around So I’m out here on my own Nothin’ but me and the open road, lord And there’s nothing standing in my way Yet I’ve never been so chained, lord Never been so chained I know, it’s a dead-end road I’m headed down I know, it’s a dead-end road, gotta turn around I’m tired of laying my head down On the cold and unhallowed ground Of listening to the hollow sound Of the howling hounds And they’re making their rounds They’re bound to run me down one of these days Hear that lonesome whistle whine You can hear it moan for a hundred miles And it recalls all I’ve left behind And I hang my head and cry, lord Hang my head and cry I know, it’s a dead-end road I’m headed down I know, it’s a dead-end road, gotta turn around
9.	Take Me Back to Memphis 03:44	lyrics	buy track
TREY BOUDREAUX: Upright Bass STAŚ HEANEY: Violin KELLY HUNT: Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar DIRK POWELL: Piano BILL SMITH: Percussion KAI WELCH: Trumpet
10.	My Own Civil War 03:31	lyrics	buy track
It’s the same blood that’s flowing to my head and my heart Each needs the other, each plays its part Each is dead set against what the other one wants Neither one’s yielding And each has its reasons for taking up arms The head cries out, “Treason!” accusing the heart Of baring its breast to love’s poison dart I’m declaring my own civil war It’s a swift calculation, and it doesn’t add up But hard is the heart that is desperate in love Blind to the world, and deaf to the voice of reason And enslaved is the mind to the will of the heart It rattles its cage, and it heaves at the bars And it screams in its rage through the feathers and tar “Oh, I’m caught in my own civil war” Divided in two, a house cannot stand If the cornerstone fails, every beam, every rafter Will loosen its grip and fall to the ground That’s a given And I’m caught in the crossfire with nowhere to hide Every tick of the heart, every turn of the mind Is a shot in the dark, is a bullet that flies through the uproar Of my own civil war There’s no end to the lengths I would go for him Either way, whichever one wins A love unrequited, what’s to be done with it? ‘Til my heart, bled dry, bleeds no more I’ll keep fighting my own civil war
11.	Be Still 03:57	lyrics	buy track
Be still, my heart Be still, my soul Do not wallow in the passing of the day Do not turn your gaze to things of the past To the bygone woes of yesterday I know my heart will be waiting there Beyond these sorrows and these trials And the flesh and blood of my beloved fair Will be resurrected for all time Be still, my heart Be still, my soul Do not falter at the falling of the night Hear you not the sweet song of the nightingale? See you not the stars strung on high? Be still, my heart And be at rest Beneath thy yonder grassy berm And when the Saviour calls me to His breast To you, my beloved, I’ll return
12.	Over the Mountain 03:34	lyrics	buy track
Sun is rising over the mountain All is calm and bright Sun is rising over the mountain Come to shed its light There’s a comin’, there’s a goin’ In this bittersweet life And there is comfort in the knowing All will be made right There was a time when the laughter of children Rang like a bell through the halls Now here I’m sitting, watching the sunrise Me and these four walls There’s a comin’, there’s a goin’ In this bittersweet life And there is comfort in the knowing All will be made right I have a brother crossing over To the other side Won’t you meet him when you see him coming? Lead him into the light There’s a comin’, there’s a goin’ In this bittersweet life And there is comfort in the knowing All will be made right

about

Singer/songwriter Kelly Hunt’s new album, OZARK SYMPHONY, is the fruit of her many journeys. The songs tell universal stories of life’s peaks and valleys with stories set again a backdrop of the prairie, mountains, and river delta spanning the Midwest and deep South, all of which intimately shaped the contours of her life. Taken as a whole, the album establishes Hunt as a vital voice Americana music, standing shoulder to shoulder with a long line of Southern songwriter/poets including Lucinda Williams, Pierce Pettis, and Nanci Griffith.

For Hunt, making OZARK SYMPHONY was a journey in and of itself, one which led her to producer Dirk Powell and his Cypress House studio in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Powell, whose musical pedigree runs deep in Celtic, Cajun and old-time music, drew from across a diverse community of musicians in the US and UK, to cultivate a sonic landscape around the album’s 12 tracks which brought the OZARK SYMPHONY vividly to life.

Stand out tracks include the album’s title track, featuring Natalie Haas on cello, which was born on a twilight drive through the stretch of Ozarks and Hunt says “Somehow that phrase seems to embody the spirit of the story I’ve set out to tell while also expressing, in a broader sense, the way I see myself and the music I make.”

The track “Evangeline” is a thematic centerpiece of the album. It is a dramatic reimagining of the Acadian Evangeline story—a folktale inspired by true events and immortalized by the 19th century Longfellow poem. An additional standout track is by the simple duet “What About Now?” which serves as the perfect vehicle for Powell’s mandolin and harmony vocals. Together Hunt and Powell tease out the playfulness of this song—light-hearted and tender with a touch of melancholy—while at the same time evoking a sense of restless urgency which Hunt says she was feeling very keenly at the time.

The album closes with the song “Over the Mountain” which Hunt wrote on a gorgeous summer morning on her way to a funeral. She explains that it was a charged moment—equal parts grief and gratitude, beauty and sadness—and she was reminded of something a friend’s grandmother used to say: “There’s a comin’, there’s a goin’.” On their first meeting, Powell made an impromptu recording of Hunt singing the song by a cave that was a ritual site for Native Americans, just as dusk was falling and the cicadas struck up their chorus. He later spliced this live version into the studio track, ending the album with a veritable Ozark symphony, as timeless and true as the mountains themselves.

credits

released October 13, 2023

TREY BOUDREAUX: Upright Bass
NATALIE HAAS: Cello
STAS HEANEY: Violin/Accordion
KELLY HUNT: Lead Vocals/Tenor Banjo/5-String Banjo/Acoustic Guitar
MIKE MCGOLDRICK: Uilleann Pipes/Irish Flute
AMELIA POWELL: Harmony Vocals
DIRK POWELL: Accordion/Fiddle/Glockenspiel/Piano/Shruti Box/Electric Guitar/Baritone Electric Guitar/Mandolin/Harmony Vocals/Percussion
RACHEL SERMANNI: Harmony Vocals
BILL SMITH: Percussion
KAI WELCH: Trumpet & Accordion

All songs written by Kelly Hunt
Published by Rare Bird Records (ASCAP)
Produced by Dirk Powell
Recorded & Mixed by Dirk Powell at The Cypress House, Breaux Bridge, LA
Mastered by Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park, Takoma Park, MD
Photography by makemade
Art direction and design by Kelly Hunt
Package layout and design by Robert Hakalski at Visual Machinery | www.vmdigital.com

license

about

Kelly Hunt New Orleans, Louisiana

Memphis-raised singer-songwriter Kelly Hunt paints stories as old and offbeat as her Depression-era tenor banjo and parlor guitar, reimagining traditions of folk, blues & old-time music in a style that hovers beyond the constraints of genre à la Anaïs Mitchell & Gillian Welch. ... more

contact / help

Contact Kelly Hunt

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Kelly Hunt, you may also like:

City of Gold
by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

supported by 10 fans who also own “Ozark Symphony”

love these new tracks! have definitely pre-ordered and eagerly anticipating tomorrows release! will be my first time seeing you live in Lyons next weekend! I'm on cloud 9! aikowolf
go to album
Outside Child
by Allison Russell

supported by 9 fans who also own “Ozark Symphony”

this just describes how much i love being in Montreal. Allison got it. fananay
go to album
Big Time
by Angel Olsen

supported by 9 fans who also own “Ozark Symphony”

So delighted that Angel is finding that "hard won acceptance" that she sought and hope that her future path is one of authenticity. This work is one marked by melodious but not overwrought emotion, striking an intuitive balance of warmth and skill. hailhumanists
go to album
Long Time To Be Gone
by Nora Brown

Nora Brown continues to bring nuance and resonance to her modern interpretation of Appalachian folk and bluegrass on her latest LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 30, 2022
go to album
Wealth of Sorrow
by Cahalen Morrison

Bright and skipping songs that foreground the sound of the banjo and fingerstyle guitar in music that feels timeless. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 5, 2020
go to album
Sweet Old Religion
by Pharis & Jason Romero

Sweet harmonies & strummed melodies; the duo delve into decades-old folk, jazz, and country to find a timeless kind of love and connection. Bandcamp New & Notable May 23, 2018
go to album
Crooked Tree
by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

supported by 9 fans who also own “Ozark Symphony”

This is the one that converted me from "this is a pretty good band" to "I have to buy this album!" heli88
go to album