by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
How do you collect the essence of modern Americana music from various sources and then present it as your own vision of what music should sound like? If in doubt you might consult Philadelphia’s Sheridan Frances ‘Francie’ Medosch, who goes under the artistic name of Florry and take a deeper listen to her latest album Big Fall.
So, what does Florry 'collect' here? Actually, everything from Gram Parsons from way back then and his concept of 'Cosmic American Music' to some more modern exponents of that music who take a few more steps into the left-field like Jeff Tweedy and Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy.
Take a listen, for example, to “Jenny” and the wailing guitars that are on the verge of going cacophonic but never do, making the song both 'countrified,' left-field and above all engaging, as any good Oldham stuff would do. There’s also the fully acoustic mode of “Dream Diary/Growth,” something that Mr. Billy would love to have in his opus. Yet Florry obviously has the history of all 'cosmic music' firmly within her grasp, as the “Say Your Prayers” that follows takes the groove from some long-lost honky-tonk and just simply stops.
The Tweedy in her crops up on “Older Girlfriend,” but never veers into anything that would sound just like a copy, Florry injects enough of her personality in there to make that sound her own. After all, as Florry puts it herself about the influence of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on her: “I never really got into Sgt Pepper or anything, so I think that album kinda took the place of that.” It is a story that goes on throughout Big Fall, making it actually quite a big step up, indeed.