ARIEL ABSHIRE has KITTY WELLS, covered
Ariel Abshire It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels is available on Apple, Deezer, Spotify
by Walter Price
As time slips into the future, more and more folks lose sight of the hallowed post-ragtime origins of honk-tonk songs. A time when a hit song may be followed up with an ‘answer song’. A jazz and R&B tradition that seeped into the country music scene in the mid-20th Century. And no better example of this tradition than Kitty Wells’ 1952 Jay Miller-penned “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels“.
The title, of course, is taken from Hank Thompson’s enduring “The Wild Side of Life“. In her rebuttal, Wells went so far as to mimic Thompson’s slow draw and cemented what I’d like to consider her signature sheepish confidence style. This cadence would inspire generations of aspiring country singers and fans alike.
This is now or a few years back to 2020 to be exact and one of the only modern voices to not only remember this classic Wells record but to cover it with such care and in a voice so respectful to the original, it’ll have you leaning on a jukebox feeding it coin after coin. I’m talking about Austin’s own Ariel Abshire and her swan song (of sorts) before she took a break from the music industry to focus on starting a family and a good ol mental refresh.
Abshire took to social media recently and announced she’s back in the saddle writing and recording songs again. Which is good news for any fan of true country and honky-tonk music. There are a lot of good singers in this world of ours but for my money, only a few sing like Ariel Abshire. And this redux of “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” is all the proof needed. Not to mention her brilliant indie-pop records—so much for you to dig into.
You can stream this cover of the Kitty Wells classic—here at the GTC.
ARIEL ABSHIRE It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Artist photo via Facebook // Artwork via Spotify
Written by J. D. “Jay” Miller
Performed by Ariel Abshire
from the bio…
“Ariel performs her original songs live at venues across Austin, Texas—by herself and with music legend Alvin Crow. Her voice can be heard on soundtracks for films by Robert Rodriguez and Trevor Romain, and she is the youngest female singer to perform before thousands at the Austin Music Awards. Music critic Margaret Moser has compared her voice to that of Brenda Lee and Lou Ann Barton. Ariel has been called the “authentic foil to Britney Spears,” by National Geographic’s Traveler Magazine.”