Whether fronting her own band on three acclaimed solo albums or part of a collaborative group like Sad Daddy, chronicling humorous human foibles or lovelorn heartache, or even celebrating the winter holidays in down home country style, Melissa Carper is surely one of the hardest working and most productive musicians on the Americana roots scene. Mere weeks after the release of A Very Carper Christmas she’s back with yet another album on an iconic theme, that of the male-female country duo.
Havin’ a Talk pairs her with Paris born and bred Theo Lawrence on a dozen duets in the style of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. (And no, that’s not Paris, Texas, it’s Paris, France.)
I’ve not heard of Theo Lawrence before but apparently he’s quite well known in his homeland. I guess he made the classic journey from a brash punk to a singing and songwriting devotee of American pop, soul, folk and country music, and is a particular fan of Twitty, Charlie Rich and Ray Price. Since 2023 he’s lived in Austin, which is where he bumped up against Melissa Carper, who settled there in just the past few years herself. The two hit it off and when they were able to book the time they went to Nashville to write and record some songs together.
They’re joined by a crew of top players including Chris Scruggs (who plays multiple instruments and co-produced), Billy Contreras (another multi-instrumentalist best known for jazz and bluegrass fiddle), and top session drummer Matty Meyer, of course with Carper herself on upright bass. As for the vocals, Lawrence’s smooth, uninflected tenor and Carper’s more peppery twang combine like oil and vinegar into something that’s greater than its parts when they join in harmony.
As is generally the case with a Melissa Carper project, these songs cover a range of classic country styles. There’s the pop-leaning “You’re Forgiven, My Love,” a dreamy string-laden waltz that evokes the mid-century “Nashville sound.” There’s the bluegrass flavored “Thank You But No Thank You” in which the two take turns professing that the single life isn’t for them. There are shuffles galore, including the mid-tempo “The Last To Know,” a honky-tonk love song of a couple on the verge of breaking up; and the slow, lounge shuffle “All Fifty States,” in which a homebody and a footloose type have different dreams for how to spend their lives and money. I think of it as a kinder gentler “Jackson.”
And more. There’s gospel (“Joyous Time”) full of rousing piano and call-and-response vocals; Everly Brothers style rockabilly (“Second Look”); tear in your beer honky-tonk balladry (“Jealous Eyes”); and some just plain sweet love songs (“Supermarket Flowers,” “The Way I Remember You”). And of course some of Carper’s specialty, Texas-style Western swing. “Dat Ain’t Right” is an upbeat shuffle that just dares you to sit still when you could be out on the dance floor, and the opener “Good Luck To Ya,” is a peppy one-step in which the two singers verbally spar over a filly they’d both like to corral. There are fiddle breaks galore, some sweet pedal steel guitar, honky tonk piano and plenty of guitar twang. In short, a darn near perfect country record.
(Warner Records, 2026)
