Acclaimed Cajun musician and historian Ann Savoy will release Another Heart on April 19th on Smithsonian Folkways. Savoy has made her name as a leading Cajun musician with the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Magnolia Sisters and more, and as a historian, digging deep into the traditions of Cajun life through more than 40 albums, thousands of concerts in dozens of countries, and definitive books, including Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People.
On Another Heart, Savoy tells her own stories. This is the first album billed solely in her name and the first to showcase the full scope of her music, from her upbringing in Richmond, Virginia, to her youthful travels to the UK and Europe, through various artistic passions and explorations that defined her life before she settled in Louisiana. With heartfelt originals and personalized cover versions of songs by Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson, Bruce Springsteen and more, Savoy captures a life of yearning, pain and joy. First single is “Waterloo Sunset,” Savoy’s unique cover of The Kinks classic. Savoy’s love of London in the 1960s and ‘70s inspired her version. “Listen to Waterloo Sunset” HERE. Pre-order Another Heart HERE.
Another Heart evolved from Savoy’s Grammy-nominated collaboration with her dear friend Linda Ronstadt, Adieu False Heart. As they began working on a second album, Linda became ill and was unable to sing, While the follow-up was shelved, Savoy continued to search for songs from over the course of her voyager life. “One of the things Linda and I were doing was stuff we had never done before that we loved,” she says. “So I’ve been doing Cajun music, but I’m from Virginia and here’s my chance to be that person again.” Savoy enlisted Dirk Powell (Joan Baez, Rhiannon Giddens) and the project was revived. Powell also wrote the track “Time Goes On, My Love” and performed a variety of instruments throughout the album.
The album kicks off with the groove-heavy “Cajun Love Song” drenched in Sonny Landreth’s slide guitar. Savoy’s gentle voice reinforces Richard Thompson’s lonely lament on “A Heart Needs a Home,” while she (alongside Rhiannon Giddens) takes the timeless tale of “Stolen Car” out of Springsteen’s New Jersey to anywhere in the USA. “Triste Samedi / A Hurricane Song” brings us back to the bayou, as Savoy boldly sings in Cajun French about the weather tragedies that often affects the region. A Joni Mitchell fan from early on, Savoy’s textured voice brings a different life to the legend’s “Tin Angel.” Another Heart closes with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” written by Sandy Denny, a bandmate of Richard Thompson’s in Fairport Convention. It brings Ann’s story full circle, back to her present life and her love for her home, her family and her community.
Savoy shares, “You could say that this album is a sketch of my early musical life, or a portrait of the development of me as a musician. Another Heart is the voice of the other person living inside of me, a mixtape of the sounds of her life, shared from me to the world, with love.”
Ann Savoy Another Heart 2024 Tour Dates
April 27 – Lafayette, LA – Festival International
May 4 – New Orleans, LA – Jazz Fest
May 24 – Washington, DC – Kennedy Center Millenium Stage
May 25 – Richmond, VA – TBA