First Listen

First Listen: The Secret Sisters’ “Mississippi”

On You Don’t Own Me Anymore, a Muscle Shoals duo hits its stride

Photo: Abraham Rowe

There was a time when the Secret Sisters—the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, duo Laura and Lydia Rogers—didn’t think they’d ever make another album. After a major record deal and two critically acclaimed releases, the Rogers sisters were dropped from their label, leaving them alone to pick up the financial and emotional pieces. But their music had reached some discerning ears: in 2015, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile contacted the sisters and offered to produce their third record. A successful crowdfunding campaign and many hours of writing and recording later, the Secret Sisters are set to release You Don’t Own Me Anymore, a twelve-song collection of soaring musical highs and searing emotional lows.

Taking cues from all corners of traditional music—from gospel-inspired harmonies to the swift picking of bluegrass and the buoyant pace of swing—You Don’t Own Me Anymore showcases the Secret Sisters at the top of their craft. “To All the Girls Who Cry” plays like a hymn of solidarity for the hopeless and heartbroken, and album closer “Flee as a Bird is soft and simple, allowing the sisters’ gentle two-part vocals to shine over sparse instrumentation.

Garden & Gun is proud to exclusively premiere “Mississippi,” a murder ballad written from the antagonist’s point of view, ahead of the album’s Friday, June 9, release date. Stream the song below. For more, pre-order You Don’t Own Me Anymore or catch the Secret Sisters on tour.


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