Released on July 26, 2011 via BareTrack Records/Capitol Nashville/EMI Canada Roots And Wings is country superstar Terri Clark’s 8th studio album. The albums starts off with Wrecking Ball a cheerful medium fast number. The song is about the determination of a woman who knows what she wants and will not stop until she gets it. Slowing things down a bit she gives us a country singer’s staple type of song about breaks up and relationships dying as Breakin’ Up Thing. Lyrically it’s about how the lover is an expert at breaking up and the singer could learn a thing or two from him. There’s some mellow pedal steel and telecaster solos in this one. In The One, is about loneliness and what people say about a single woman. And the woman doesn’t want to settle down for just about anyone but is waiting for the right one.
Norther Girl is Terri Clark celebrating her Canadian-ess and her pride for her native country. Lyrically and musically this is one of her best songs and certainly a highlight of this album. Beautiful And Broken is about love lost and asking the questions to what made it go wrong. Fiddles bring forth the next song, Lonesome’s Last Call – the heartbroken people’s song. A more traditional sounding kind of country song, it’s a really good song to sing along to, in a country western bar.
With the intro reminding me of something the Bee Gees would do, The Good Was Great is another love ballad from Terri that touches the heart and I can see myself listening to this one in the evening while sipping a cold vodka. The next song surprised me cause it’s got Bluegrass legend Alison Krauss lending backing vocals. Smile is a gentle ballad about being supportive and loving and not letting distance separate people from their loved ones. Lyrically, I think this song is about Terri’s mom who gave her tremendous support when the singer went away from home to make it in the music industry. The Canadian country singer/songwriter gives us a cover in the upbeat We’re Here For A Good Time which is a Trooper song. I’m sure this will be a really good choice for her to close her concerts with during her tours. And finally we get Flowers In The Snow – a lament from someone who has seen too many heartaches & pain. The album officially ends with 10 songs but the deluxe version has two more songs, live versions of Norther Girl and one of her best songs ever If You Want Fire.
Great album, no weak songs at all. Here’s the video for Norther Girl.