Shawna Virago - Blood in Her Dreams

I first heard Shawna Virago earlier this year when some algorithm or other kicked up her non-album single version of Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home.” I must confess I’d never encountered Virago’s name or music before that, but I was instantly pulled in by the empathy she poured into the song and by how smartly she delivered its lines and melody. Often, when people dare to tackle “Sing Me Back Home,” they over sing it; they try to outdo a song that is bigger than they are. Virago, her rusty voice plaintive and plainspoken, sings it simply, relying on the spare melody and lyric to do the work, and on the rusty-but-bright texture of her voice.