"I’d rather have you still beside me than have you always running through my mind... Oh look out California, I’m coming for my lover’s heart tonight."
Pretty lyrics sung from a pretty mouth. Lindi Ortega, or "indie Lindi" as she has come to be hailed, is not a household name yet, but her vocals are certainly reminiscent of many a well loved classic singing legend.
Ortega has been called a mix of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash. I hear a Canadian voice in that melange too, something of a Sarah Slean. Ortega is a unique mix of Irish and Mexican blood and says both backgrounds have come to influence her vocal practice.
"I hear a lot of country in old Irish Folk tunes; I feel they are very similar," she says. "I also think, rhythmically, my guitar playing is very influenced by Latino music."
Cigarettes & Truckstops
is Ortega’s aptly titled latest record, released in October of last year by Last Gang Records - the Canadian label that formed and launched the band Metric at a time when no one else would take them on. The label has also worked with Canadian big timers the New Pornographers, K-OS, Chromeo, Noize and Tiga.
Since 2010 Ortega has been touring hard including a circuit as backup singer for Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers on his promotion of a solo album entitled Flamingo. She has performed dates throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the States and in 2012 received two Juno nominations for New Artist of the Year and Roots & Traditional Album: Solo for her first album release, Little Red Boots. This was followed by a naming as a long list nominee for the Polaris Music Prize.
Ortega has opened for the likes of k.d. Lang, Social Distortion, Dierks Bentley, and James Vincent McMorrow, and recently appeared on ABC’s new hit series Nashville performing the debut single off her second album, The Day You Die.
Her solo tour that kicked off in December in Los Angeles will bring her to Calgary on February 16th at the Palomino, in Edmonton on February 17th at the Avenue Theatre, and to the Jasper Legion on February 18th before heading west for the tour’s completion in Victoria on February 23rd.
"I live mostly in hotels and tour vans, but my home address is Nashville, Tennessee," she says. "I love the adventure. I love meeting new people."
Her style is fun to watch and her tunes are catchy. Her videos have a vintage style, incorporating Super 8 footage and classic western backdrops.
"I love old school country and outlaw country, as well as a lot of folks, roots, rock and blues," she says. "Sometimes I make up dark little tales in my mind about murder and such."
Her new album is said to be largely based on her move from Toronto to Nashville, a move that brought her closer to the origins of several of her influences, such as Hank Williams.
Billboard has called it, "...heartfelt and mood-inducing, a uniquely bluesy twist on pre-outlaw country."
It features tracks that should indeed accompany any journeyer on their long ride to wherever their destination may be.
Although the old country, bayou feel is a great listen the last track is where I believe Ortega really finds her own voice. Every Mile of the Ride is that melancholy song you conclude a mix CD with, that you name your theme song as your train pulls away from a sojourn in Europe.
As for the Californian lover she sings sultry warning of her coming to, in the title track Cigarettes & Truckstops, he will just need to keep on waiting.
"...that romance was ill-fated," Ortega says.