The paths and circumstances leading a musician to record their first album are as varied as life itself. Frequently, they work years so they’re prepared to take full advantage of whatever break presents itself. There’s also a contingent that gets there through sheer perseverance and gutting it out. The debut record from Nashville artist Zach Willdee, titled Heart That Ain’t Tame, seems to have followed that latter path. Beginning with playing in festival picking circles at the age of 12, to writing his first songs at 16, to apprenticing with Darrell Scott, Willdee has built his talent and following one step at a time.
This is an unabashedly twangy, country music album. It opens with the title track, a song in three parts. Starting as a ballad featuring Willdee’s Colter Wall-esque leathery bass vocals, things then pick up a little bit and its a country waltz. The final third is an uptempo shuffle, all in a tale of resisting the urge to run away from one’s problems. That deep-water voice is also prominent in Climbing the Ladder, with a Jerry Jeff Walker style calling out the hypocrisy of “don’t tell me I’m climbing the ladder when you’re three rungs up above.” On My Own gets back to a faster tempo with a Waylon Jennings beat about getting out while you still can.
Several songs in the collection are autobiographical replays of some of Willdee’s relationships. Take Me came early in one of them, when “won’t you take me in your dreams tonight” reflects desire, in a gentle country waltz. Take the Sign occurs later when the discussion turns to commitment and the description of “long blonde hair with a jet-black stare” tells you how this is going to turn out. A more light-hearted tune, Ain’t No Man, was written about a long-time friend. You can hear the tongue-in-cheek attitude when he sings that even “his mama told me he was born under a bad sign.”
One of the benefits of paying your dues long enough in the Nashville music scene is you end up with some extraordinarily talented friends. Several of them pitched in when Willdee decided to make this record. As a result, Heart That Ain’t Tame comes across not as a debut album, but one a lot of country music veterans would proudly put out.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.