Sandy Bailey shares a day in the life on ‘Daughter of Abraham’

Recommended Tracks: “I Ain’t Your Honey”, “Get the Message Through”, “Got Nobody”
Artists You May Like: Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, Christina Martin

You do not have to live a crazy, spectacular life in order to have a story worth sharing. The way your story is told – that’s what truly matters. Take The Notebook, for instance. At its core, it’s a love story between two people who have ordinary lives, more or less. They fall in love and then fall out of love and then fall in love again. People do this all the time. Yet, Nicholas Sparks found a way to make this narrative compelling and interesting, convincing us that this is one of the greatest love stories of all time. With Daughter of Abraham, Sandy Bailey unearths this similar ability to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary, capturing lurid vignettes of her life as a single, working-class mom in America.

On Daughter of Abraham, Sandy conveys the importance of relationships and connections in her life. She details the lack of care and value she receives from her online dates on the opening track, “I Ain’t Your Honey,” making it an earnest and playful anthem for all who are in the same boat. With her soulful, folksy vocals, she sings, “Well I put on my smile with my makeup / You like to watch when I undress / Then you leave me in the morning when I wake up / Do you really want to see me through the rest?” and “You call me a couple of weeks later / You want to know how I’ve been doing / You ask me for another picture / And so I send you something of me crying,” detailing the ways in which she is seen as an object instead of a person. But on “Waiting on Summer,” she describes how beautiful it is to find someone you love to be around. She sings, “Counting down the hours till I can be with you / Waiting for the day when I can see you / Is like waiting, waiting on the summertime.” The guitar riffs fill the track with the electricity she has when with this person, that spark and passion glowing from start to finish. Connections are essential to her existence, which also comes across on “Get the Message Through.” On this Americana-filled track, Sandy taps into the ways that technology can make us feel connected and isolated at the same time. After coming home from work, she sings about scrolling on social media and using it to reach out to loved ones. It seems as if leaving comments is the only way to get someone’s attention nowadays, and that just isn’t enough for her. She can’t get her message through.

But no matter how disconnected or lonely she may feel, Sandy is resilient. She focuses on a newfound independence on the slow-burning “Got Nobody,” ready to move on from a former relationship. As she describes being seated at a “table for one” on a Friday night, she reveals, “Well I’m free like that eagle in the sky / With no one but the air to hold me / I’m gonna spread my wings and fly / Away from the memories,” eager to take flight. It is her time to shine, and this moment is one that she knew would unfold. On “Time’s Gonna Come,” she reassures listeners that their day will come. She shares words of encouragement over the rattling drums and skittering chords from the guitar, singing, “Oh, your time will come / Will call you by name / Sure as the tide / Will fall and rise again,” her gentle sighs and ahs reflecting her patience. One of the more powerful tracks on resilience is the title track, which is centered around the concept of the Underground Railroad. After learning that the house she recently moved into is rumored to be affiliated with the Underground Railroad, Sandy was inspired by its history. She wrote the track as an ode to all who passed through, looking to reconnect with them and honor the strength of the human spirit.

Along with the messages of the songs, part of the album’s charm is the imagery that Sandy creates. On the hazy “Already Down,” she mentions how it feels to live in a small town, where you work at the grocery store, come home to a deadbeat partner, and listen to stories about the “American dream” on the television. The specificity of the lyrics makes it easy to visualize these scenes, like on “Bottles of Emptiness.” Here, Sandy’s gospel-influence can be heard through the sounds of the organ, which brings a bittersweet vibe to the track. With the lines, “I spend all my time with a deep red wine / Then at the end of the day / I’ll hide away / Bottles of emptiness,” it is clear that the drinking is becoming more than just a way to unwind. The more details she gives us, the more the severity of the situation comes into focus. It can lead to something bigger, such as death, which Sandy sings about on “Dear John.” While she reminisces on someone no longer around and touches on the ways this person is still here, she gives us beautiful, poetic lyrics that enliven the track. Over the country and folk sounds of the tambourine and harmonica, Sandy sings, “When they told me you had gone to the other side of a spring snow shower / I looked down in the mud and found hope in a bud just about to flower,” igniting the senses.

All in all, Daughter of Abraham is a story that can be felt by anyone. We have all been Sandy, whether we have felt impacted by relationships, felt empowered, felt lonely, or have been a strong observer of life. These moments are the ones that are worth sharing, not the ones that center on your greatest achievements or the exciting places you’ve traveled. It is all about the day-to-day, the moments that make us feel human. By presenting us with these moments through moody music and descriptive lyrics, Sandy has redefined who she is as an artist, and in turn, has redefined herself.