via Anna Wescoat, with permission
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They say that true country music, “real” country music—that it’s dead these days. Sometimes, we may echo that sentiment too frequently on this podcast. I know that I say it, I imagine far too often, whether it’s on behalf of The Load Out, Atomic Junction or wherever I am. It’s especially true when I hear the likes of Sam Hunt or Florida Georgia Line on the radio.
But for all the “get off of my lawn” sentiments around modern country music and the technology that’s being infused in making music today, there remain plenty of old souls out there whose playing styles harken back to those grittier days of the 1970s. I’m talking about singer-songwriters or bands that are fighting the growing digital divide, relishing an era of country music that could seamlessly slide into a mix-tap with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers.
One of those artists—ironically, one who uses digital loops in her live shows as she can play up to eight instruments at one time—is our most recent guest on The Load Out Music Podcast: Florida-based Anna Wescoat. In late 2024, Wescoat debuted with her first album, World Famous, which was produced by singer-songwriter and friend-of-the-show Ben Jarrell. The record is a testament to the spirit of country music from a half-century ago, finding Wescoat sounding like a young Pasty Cline or brimming with the stylistic meanderings of the great George Jones at the height of his powers.
Wescoat’s prowess began early, playing piano at an early age. But she is a learner and now plays some 30 instruments. Yet, Wescoat didn’t take to the idea of being a professional musician until about six years ago.
“I grew up playing with my family, playing in church,” she said. “Then somebody came and asked me, ‘would you be willing to perform for an event we’re throwing together—we’re opening a new restaurant.’”
Encouraged by her husband, Wescoat agreed to do it on a regular basis, but then the restaurant closed. It made her realize how much she had enjoyed playing live music.
“One thing led to another and I ended up becoming a one-woman band,” Wescoat added, saying she now plays some 100 venues in the region, all the while raising and homeschooling children. “That I’m able to make a living at it—it’s a huge blessing for me.”
When Wescoat first set out, like most artists, she was playing other people’s songs. But that changed.
“At lot of what I grew up on was southern gospel but I also grew up on a lot of bluegrass,” she said. “In my teenage and college years, that’s when I started listening to a lot of country and I started digging deep into old school country. I kind of resonated with those stories. Patsy, Loretta, certainly artists like George Jones and Merle Haggard. I love anything from the ’60s and ‘70s with those harmonies like the Mamas & the Papas and John Denver, John Prine.”
Prine makes sense when you dig into Wescoat’s music. She is a natural born storyteller echoing his narrative style, and she wants to be a torchbearer.
“I feel like what’s missing today, in country in particular, is it doesn’t have the meat and the meaning that it used to have,” Wescoat noted.
In building a career, she’s found it frustrating that many have guided her to listen to, and take direction from, what’s popular today. But in Wescoat’s mind, “it all sounds the same.”
“It’s a machine that just turns out the same thing over and over again,” she noted. “To me it doesn’t sound individual anymore. Here’s the recipe…I don’t write like that. To me that’s more ear candy than anything else.”
Ear candy—that’s not what Anna Wescoat is creating. She’s building a unique sound grounded in the sonic strength of the country music of yesteryear.
Content shared from brobible.com.