Biography

HALLEYANNA’S BILL CHAMBERS-PRODUCED SOPHOMORE RECORD
HALLEYANNA SET FOR MAY 28 RELEASE NATIONWIDE

> Central Texas songwriter redefines country music with new album, now on tour with fellow Cheatham Street graduate Todd Snider <

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2013

SAN MARCOS, Texas – HalleyAnna’s a singular soul wise beyond her years. Clear evidence: Her new album HalleyAnna. The Central Texas resident’s buoyant sophomore effort backs youthful edge (“Tattoo”) and energy (“Out of the Blue”) with a seasoned songwriter’s elegance (“The Letter”). “Take a walk in my shoes with them worn our soles/I’ve walked in them for miles until I wore in these holes,” she sings on the latter. “And I wouldn’t trade for new ones, no, no/They got me this far and I’m ready to go.”

HalleyAnna’s deep Lone Star state roots wrap around each texture (“Playing Along”) and phrase (“Walk Away”). “I grew up listening to people who play music in Texas,” says the 26-year-old, whose father, Kent Finlay, owns the legendary San Marcos singer-songwriter listening room Cheatham Street Warehouse, birthplace for kindred spirits Terri Hendrix, Bruce Robison, Todd Snider and several others. “I really love the traditional stuff that’s going on in East Nashville and here in Austin.”

Tradition’s important. HalleyAnna carries forward the spirit embodied at Cheatham Street for decades: Craft outweighs commerce. She writes, as Townes Van Zandt famously wrote, for the sake of the song. She answers her muse. Period.

“HalleyAnna takes a subtle approach to blowing people away with her music,” says Grammy-winning producer Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks). “She writes meaningful lyrics and her singing and guitar playing deliver her songs in grand form.” “Every song HalleyAnna writes or sings is great,” ace songwriter Walt Wilkins says. “Her voice really sends me. She’s sunshine in a beautiful package.” In fact, few rays shine brighter.

Her words flow as naturally as sunlit barroom daydreams, independent spirits reaching skyward over and over throughout the new album. Consider “The Bee.” “There’s a voice out here calling me to face what I must face to see,” she sings. “Not because of destiny just the chance for what will be, and that is free.” “Any time I’d go through a heartache growing up, my dad would say, ‘Well, you’ll get a good song out of it,’” HalleyAnna says. “Sure enough, I really did.” Her debut The Country (2011) suggested as much. Now, the new album confirms: HalleyAnna’s singular songs effortlessly turn darkness into light.

“I was at the Finlay house when they brought HalleyAnna home from the hospital,” Todd Snider says. “As a brother, it’s been a joy to watch her grow into one of the most formidable songwriters of our time. She’s like Hayes Carll but pretty.”