She doesn’t sound like anybody else most people have heard of. That might be a problem for some, but Willow Avalon sounds a little like quite a few fantastic singer/songwriters across several genres. On Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell she uses her childhood in Georgia as the root for a selection of songs featuring her distinctive vocals in a variety of settings, but all coming from the center of a girl in the South. “I’ve got my mama’s mouth and my daddy’s drawl” might be more than just a clever line from the title track; Willow’s father is Jim White who happens to be another singer that doesn’t sound like anybody else most people have heard of. I asked him how much his genetics may be involved in Willow’s talent and Jim made it clear “she gets at least as much of her musical talent from her mom's side of the family as from anything from my end of the equation--her grandmom and two great aunts were incredible singers.” They were talented enough for Jim to have featured them singing “Knoxville Girl” in his film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. Now based out of New York, Willow plays, writes and produces her music alongside a small group of collaborators.

With the release of Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell on January 17 via Atlantic Records/Assemble Sound, Willow now has a full-length body of work showcasing her talent after her debut EP, Stranger, dropped in 2024 which included the popular songs “Honey Ain’t No Sweeter,” the title track, and “Getting Rich, Goin’ Broke” which makes an appearance here. If one must place her music in a genre “a sound that refreshingly blends classic country and Americana” – how her press release describes it – certainly provides a starting point to discuss this unique talent.

The dozen songs that comprise Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell breathe life into this modern woman trying to find her way. The opening song gives you an idea of how our girl operates: “I love you like sugar, you love me like sex / Put us both together we’ll do something we regret.” She will not abide nonsense as she sings in “Homewrecker”: “he only gave me his side of the truth;” and this gem: “I guess his eyes are brown ‘cause he’s full of shit, and I’ll start raisin hell if he doesn’t fuckin quit.” A girl’s gotta have a girlfriend and Maggie Antone, yet another singer who doesn’t sound like anybody else most people have heard of, fills that role in “Yodelayheewho” with the observation “you were a momentary lapse of judgement I’ll never understand.”  

There are sad moments, too; in “Baby Blue” she sings “You made a bonfire with the vintage clothes I thought you would like / I guess setting them aflame helped you find peace that night.” We learn the familiar backstory of our Southern girl in “Country Never Leaves,” “too big for this small town where what you say comes back around, you can take the girl out of the country, but it never really leaves.” When we get to “The Actor” Willow begins to take flight and the song simply soars, carried by lyrics of deep regret: “he was a blue-eyed, blonde-haired sweet-talking snake and loving him was my greatest mistake.” 

A brief detour for some country music here gives Avalon an opportunity to loosen up and have some fun. The title track is some fine Outlaw Country, “Getting Rich, Goin Broke” is a holdover from last year’s EP but updated with a video shot in Athens, Georgia, featuring several of Willow’s family members and the scathing lyric, “the more they take the more there ain’t no pennies in the piggie left for me.” Looking cheap is very expensive as we learn in “Hey There, Dolly” where she’s “spending every cent ‘cause looks like ours don’t come for free.”

“Want Me Now” should be a hit record for SOMEBODY. It’s ready for radio airplay right now and people would love it. This is year-end top 10 list-worthy already. Check this song out before you listen to anything else on this record.

Two more tracks finish the record with “Damned” finding our heroine back on her couch “I’ve got no motivation to figure this shit out” and “Good Morning, Goodbye” as the sad farewell of the solo piano and pedal steel place a bittersweet bow on the story of the Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell. It’s a story familiar to so many that she is easy to relate to and her problems are universal even if some are self-inflicted. Either way, the stories are engaging, and the writing is clever and evocative.

Willow Avalon has already had an interesting career with her NYC accomplishments and with this release she’ll be able to present these songs in an exciting way with her first-ever headline tour across the US, UK, and Ireland.

Find out more about Willow at the links below:

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Spotify