Travel On

At the end of the title track that opens her debut solo album Travel On, Vickie Vaughn calls, “My turn!” She may simply be taking the last break, but she effectively announces her time has come for bigger adventures too. Vaughn, named IBMA Bass Player of the Year for three consecutive years, still holds down her position with the all-female band Della Mae, but she is following the lead of a handful of bass players—female bass players—who have taken their turn leading a band of their own.

  With the release of the new album, produced by Deanie Richardson of Sister Sadie, Vaughn puts the music world on notice that she can tackle all the roles—while keeping the beat. She had a hand in writing four of the tracks on the album, including the tender “Mama Took Her Ring off Yesterday,” one of the singles released in advance of the album, written with Richardson. “Bottle of Wine,” an upbeat post-hangover song, was written with legendary songwriter Thomm Jutz.

Other songs on the album were hand-selected to highlight Vaughn and the stellar musicians who play on the album, such as Vince Gill’s rollicking “Liza Jane” and Justin Townes Earle’s chilling Civil War song “Lone Pine Hill.”

Vaughn assembled a first-rate band of musicians to play on the album: Cody Kilby on guitar, Casey Campbell on mandolin, Wes Corbett on banjo, Dave Racine on percussion, with Richard on fiddle. In addition to Ronnie McCoury, who provided harmony vocals on “Travel On,” she also enlisted Lillie Mae Rische, Frank Rische, and Justin Hiltner for backup harmony.

The tracks on the album span a range of musical moods, with a heavy dose of heartbreak. Bruce Ben Robinson’s “Leavin’” plays with rhyme: …many things they change/when they left you barely breathin’/But the girls all look the same/when they’re leavin’.

Deceptively up-tempo, “Sleeping in the Rain” considers the only option when I can’t have your love [and] my poor heart’s got nowhere left to go. Vaughn and her band channel a George and Tammy vibe on “She’s on My Mind,” with classic country harmony and lyrics about the difficulty of putting the past behind.

Throughout Travel On, Vickie Vaughn demonstrates just what a good bass player can do—listen and get into just the right groove.