For the next few years she started playing with a bunch of salty, accomplished Cape Cod musicians who helped bring back the cowgirl attitude and inspired her to write about her sometimes humorous, sometimes tear-jerking journey from Texas, love, and heartache. Much of the album is like a sti cocktail, deeply auto-biographical and mixed with a hint of fiction. Rizzio wanted to write a song about one of her musical idols and penned “Willie Nelson” while being snowed in during a Nor’Easter.
After channeling her inner-willie for a couple of days, she found herself in a love a air with an older man, in a tale of two cities, with forgotten yesterdays. This ode to Willie Nelson won finalist in the 31st annual Songwriters of Washington (SAW) competition. A song that never was meant to be recorded was actually a wedding gift to her husband called “Luckier Than You” which she played at their reception. It is an ironic song, because her husband is definitely the lucky one, yet it bravely shares an intimate part of her life. This theme of being transparent through her songwriting was natural, therapeutic, and long overdue.
The title track, “Washashore Cowgirl” is the culmination of growing up with a mullet in the bible-heavy plains of Quitman, Texas and somehow winding up on the same shores as the Pilgrims. Rizzio enjoys juxtaposing literary references with her own journeys, especially in “Buttercups,” where a modern day woman shares some of the characteristics of Hester Prynne. “You and Me”, bluntly put, is a song about getting cheated on, delivered in a light, fun way, almost John Prine-esque.
Rizzio’s songs feel both rustic and refi ned, and she delivers them in a compelling voice that’s equal parts tenderness and sass. She reminds me of a slightly duskier Nanci Gri‑ th.” — Mark Erelli have have sculpted her songs in what she likes to call AmeriCountryGrass, and that basically sums up her style.
Several of Rizzio’s friends jumped at the chance to play on the recordings, Sierra Hull (Mandolin), Abbie Gardner (Red Molly/Dobro), Charlie Rose (pedal steel), Laney Jones (Banjo/ vocals) Justin Moses (Ricky Skaggs/Sierra Hull/ Banjo/Dobro) Mark Erelli (vocals) Brittany Hass (Crooked Still/Fiddle) and Jake Hill (Billington Sea/vocals). Monica has become one of the most reliable supporting acts as well, having shared the stage with Chris Botti, Boz Scaggs, Diana Krall, Joan Osborne, and Slaid Cleaves this past year. She has played the Main Stage at Strawberry Park Bluegrass festival the past two years and is a frequent collaborator with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. In December of 2014, she performed as part of Tom Rush’s band at his annual show at Symphony Hall in Boston. She played fi ddle, guitar and sang backups as well as performing her originals “Luckier Than You” & “Willie Nelson” with Red Molly backing her up. “It’s time that I saddle on again and hit the road sharing my crazy washashore cowgirl story,” says Rizzio, who is probably most at home when she is on stage sharing her songs. “ I made the tactical error of inviting Monica Rizzio to share the stage with me at Symphony Hall and she went and stole the audience right out from under me!” — Tom Rush.
Tickets are $20 and available from brownpapertickets.com
