AUSTIN 360: On The Record

— Austin360, Peter Blackstock

Jaimee Harris, “Red Rescue.” We wrote at length about Harris for our Austin360 Artist of the Month series in July, when this album initially was set for release before a slight delay. It’s out now on the heels of Harris’s trip last week to Nashville for Americana Fest, where she drew attention from NPR and shared a stage with Rodney Crowell and John Hiatt. Produced by Craig Ross, “Red Rescue” is strong from start to finish, a long-due solo debut from an artist who’s been writing songs since performing in a duo with her father as a teen. The first single “Depressive State” is the immediate standout, a folk-rock tune that bypasses typical verse-chorus structure and features radiant vocal harmonies. “Catch It Now” is a heartfelt solo acoustic gem that could be the theme song of Harris’s life and career up to this point. The title track is almost cinematic, grounded by the thumping rhythms of drummer Jon Greene and bassist Bonnie Whitmore before Brian Patterson’s guitar atmospherics and backing vocals by Ross and the late Jimmy LaFave broaden the scope. “Fake” starts as a quiet confessional — “I’m a fake, you’re starting to notice” — and gradually builds to an emotional breaking point. “Forever,” spiked with pedal steel and guitar runs from Mike Hardwick, captures the high reaches of Harris’s spectacular voice. The scorching “Damn Right” is a full-force rocker that pushes the boundaries of her repertoire, though it feels out-of-place as the opening track. But by the end of the album, when Harris drifts away gently on the piano-based reverie “Where Are You Now,” there’s no doubting “Red Rescue” heralds the arrival of a major new Austin singer-songwriter. Playing Sept. 20 at One-2-One Bar. Here’s an acoustic version of the title track recorded at our Statesman studios in July: