Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Country: USA
Genre: Country, bluegrass
Full length: The Magnolia Sessions
Format: Digital
Label: Anti-Corp Music
Release date: July 3, 2026
The story behind Hannah Juanita’s performance on “The Magnolia Sessions” is likely similar to our own journeys. In her early twenties, she left her Tennessee home to seek life and meaning elsewhere. Upon returning, she brought back songs inspired by her travels and experiences beyond herself. Arriving in Nashville she performed wherever she could, fueled by her wanderlust and experiences singing with friends beneath the stars. Perhaps the intimacy of those fireside gatherings resonated with people, leading her to become a respected artist in traditional Nashville country music. Or that she never pursued commercial success during her time away. Not as a bar trashing outlaw but someone whose journey is very personal to her.
“The Magnolia Sessions” is an ongoing series from the indie label Anti Corp Music highlighting dark country, bluegrass and folk music. Owner Dan Emery provides recording space for The Hill Country Devil, The Resonant Rogues, Cristina Vane, Angela Autumn, Joe’s Truck Stop, The Bandit Queen Of Sorrows, Squeaky Bones Ramblin’ Ricky Tate and many other artists. The space is a lone magnolia tree outside the Anti-Corp/Black Matter Mastering headquarters in Nashville. Somehow this location turned out to be an ideal spot for Juanita to present her material for the atmosphere it generated.
Juanita’s albums “Hardliner” and “Tennessee Songbird” clearly showcase her honesty about her life and key moments that shaped her outlook. Their raw, authentic approach and independent overtones liken her more to Johnny Cash and Hank Williams III than most of the county on mainstream radio. This and the sincerity she presents them with earned her recognition on music charts and praise from Grammy.com, highlighting her as an artist whose work has the potential to influence country’s future.
Recalling her solo recording session sitting on a bench outside during a hot, dark night, Juanita introduces “Wild and Blue” as a song she has felt deeply inside for much of her life. I gather the song expresses isolation and the longing to connect with other people, a sentiment reflected in many of the songs in her set. Their introspective nature makes them personally meaningful to her, regardless of when they were written or the circumstances that inspired them. Although these moments were not always intentionally planned to fit together, they share common themes. Recording them without a backup band in a quiet, solitary setting enhances their relatability, resonating with people experiencing similar moments of reflection.
As a self-made, self-proclaimed “ramblin’ gal,” Hannah Juanita has shared the stage with Kaitlin Butts, Hayes Carll, Braxton Keith, Nick Shoulders and others. Expressing her time and mileage through her guitars, beneath that magnolia tree, she had a feeling most artists can’t recapture in a recording studio, a sense of authentic connection. It’s as if she found it easy to openly reveal the feelings from faded relationships, memories of drinking with friends, being stuck in a dead-end job, and most of all grappling with loneliness and a longing for something more, something that often can't be named.
From the time she left Tennessee to her return, Hannah Juanita seems to have experienced a great deal. Beneath her angelic voice lies a sense of how heavily her experiences weigh on her. “Missin’ You,” “Tears and Tequila,” “Workin’ Girl Blues,” “I’m Not Drunk,” and the closing “Hardliner Blues,” blending old-school country and bluegrass, craft an easygoing yet profound narrative of experiences that left lasting impressions on her, make you feel them as convincingly. Getting most of her songs down in a single take, she captured a genuine vibe and spontaneity that months of practice couldn’t capture. -Dave Wolff
Track list:
1. Missin' You
2. Wild And Blue
3. Tears And Tequila
4. Workin' Girl Blues
5. Tennessee Songbird
6. I'm Not Drunk
7. Sea Of Love
8. Hardliner Blues
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