By Lee Zimmerman, The Daily Times Apr 9, 2025
When she’s not touring or performing onstage, Angela Easterling lives a rural existence. She shares a home with her musical partner, Brandon Turner, and their three young sons on the same Greer, South Carolina farm that’s been in her family since 1791. Nevertheless, that idyllic existence and solitary status provides a marked contrast to the acclaim she’s received throughout her professional career. American Songwriter magazine included her last album, 2022’s “Witness,” in their Top 24 Albums of the Year. It was also named “Album of The Year” by The Greenville Journal, and ranked No. 6 in Americana Highways’ “Favorite Albums of the Year Reader’s Poll,” while also earning rave reviews from any number of writers and reviewers.
Those that have followed her career likely realize that’s no fluke. She’s garnered all manner of critical kudos over the course of her career, including prominent placement at the Kerrville New Folk Festival, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the CMA Fan Fair, all in addition to an ongoing presence on radio, television and even TV commercials. She was also invited to perform at the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibit “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Root’s Music” and at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.”
Easterling, who performs at the Blount County Library tonight, April 10, tours consistently, making frequent festival appearances, as well as opening for the likes of The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Jim Lauderdale, Scott Miller, The Steel Wheels, Sarah Jarosz, Elizabeth Cook, Lucinda Williams, Charlie Louvin, Robbie Fulks, Tracy Grammer, Mary Gauthier, Ray Price, Suzy Bogguss, Ellis Paul, Tom Brosseau, Eilen Jewell, Radney Foster, Will Kimbrough, The Oak Ridge Boys, Lori McKenna, and many more.
Jim Lauderdale called her “A shining example of what Americana music is… inspiring.” Roger McGuinn of the Byrds echoed those comments when he said, “Angela Easterling is a bright shining star on the country/folk/alt.music horizon! Her gift is so special… tradition meets youthful exuberance!”
Another critic called her sound “literate, modern Southern music for the ages.”
Easterling said that she always aims to pursue her passion. “I don’t ever want to feel like I’ve peaked,” she said. “I want to keep growing, challenging myself, keep inspiring myself to stay interesting to the audience that has enjoyed my previous work. I want to stay relevant.”
At the same time, she admits that that praise she’s received, especially from her fellow musicians, is quite flattering.” She added that the considers it an honor to receive those kudos.
“It never gets old, to have people I have looked up to even be aware of who I am, much less say something nice about my work,” she said. “I also love to hear when other folks have covered my songs or recorded versions of themselves playing my tunes. That really gets to me. There is no greater honor than having someone else want to sing and play what I created. I love hearing others put their spin on it.”
A new album is in the works, but, she said it’s still a ways off. “I have been working on something a little different and ambitious (for me), and I am still trying to figure out the best way to get it out into the world,” she continued. “For the last couple of years, I have been working on writing the songs for a folk/bluegrass musical. It is a project I have been thinking about for quite some time, and I decided to be brave and just go ahead and see if I could do it. I have written around 25 songs for it, but I’m still thinking about things. Like I said, it is a very different kind of project than I have done in the past, so while I am indulging myself artistically with the writing of it, I do want to be very careful on how I go about bringing it to the public eye. If I record it the way I would like, cost will definitely be an issue, so I am also trying to think of funding possibilities.”
She said that the project is very close to her in that it involves a piece of her family history. “My first love in the arts was theatre,” she continued. “I grew up doing plays and I studied theatre in college. I let it go many years ago to pursue songwriting, but I am trying to find a way to bring both of these loves together. I am really excited about it!”
Easterling also said she’s excited about returning to perform in East Tennessee. “It’s close to us, the people are great, and there is such a wonderful musical tradition in that area that is so inspiring,” she said. “I feel like that I’m coming from the western part of the Carolinas, we have so much in common culturally with East Tennessee.”
Her upcoming concert at the library will find her accompanied by her personal and professional partner, Brandon Turner on guitar and harmony vocals.
“We love playing library concerts and frequently play them on the road,” Easterling continued. “Library concerts are very special because people come to listen to the music, and less to socialize and hang out. So you really have a great listening room environment. You also get a crowd that is very interested in learning and reading. They really like hearing the stories and inspiration behind the songs. Another great thing about libraries is that the shows are usually earlier in the evening, open to all ages, and free to the public. They turn out to be a nice cross section of folks that might not always be able to come out to a music venue or a festival. It is a wonderful way to reach new listeners. I will play a few of my new tunes and lots of my older ones as well, and talk about the inspiration and stories behind the songs.”