Last week, Lizzy McAlpine released her fourth studio album, “Angel.” In this album, she explores a new musical style incorporating different instrumentation and a deep appreciation for Appalachian music audiences haven’t seen from her in previous releases.
Appalachian music is known as a melting pot of cultures and genres interacting and creating new genres. Scottish, Irish and English immigrants used string instruments such as fiddles and guitars to create complex and resonant harmonies that eventually became a core characteristic of the region's music.
Additionally, they used steady, repetitive and hypnotic rhythms designed for square dancing. Furthermore, their vocals employ high-pitched, resonant vocal harmonies and modal scales — a way to play a standard western scale by starting on a different note or changing step patterns to create a specific mood.
Immigrants from West Africa, Germany and Latin America who settled in the region incorporated music from their homelands to create the perfect mixture of cultures, making Appalachian folk music the genre heard today.
From March to April of 2025, McAlpine starred in “Floyd Collins,” a Broadway show telling the story of a cave explorer from Kentucky who got stuck 200 feet underground. The show primarily uses folk and bluegrass, traditional Appalachian genres, for the score, which inspired many songs on “Angel.” In this album, she uses string instruments such as the acoustic, 12-string guitar and the dulcimer, a 19th-century Appalachian instrument, as well as tight, resonant harmonies.
In an exclusive one-night-only show where she performed “Angel” in its entirety before the official release, she shared the stories of how she wrote certain songs on the album.
“Soldier of the Road (feat. Fleet Foxes),” was written in her dressing room between rehearsals for “Floyd Collins,” and it outlines the struggles artists face in the unending loop of writing a record, producing a record and touring said record, as well as the exhaustion pushed on artists for industry success.
In this collaboration, the Fleet Foxes use low harmonies to anchor the track, portraying the song as a march, thus comparing artists in this oppressive industry system to soldiers. In this track, McAlpine uses the dulcimer, acoustic guitar and harmonica to channel a traditional folk sound.
“Over Country,” was written during her time on Broadway and explains the importance of having a close and special friends who love and support you no matter how near or far you are from them. In this song, McAlpine uses the 12-string guitar, which is primarily used in Appalachian folk and roots music to create a chorus-like accompaniment which successfully creates an effect of multiple instruments in one.
Finally, “A Car Wash and a New Pair of Pants,” was not written during her time on Broadway, however the influences of the show are not lost. This song was used to describe the feeling of being with her ex-boyfriend who wanted to be all-consuming and the spotlight all to himself. On this track, McAlpine unintentionally wrote a song similar to "One of These Things First,” by Nick Drake, a rural folk artist made popular in the ‘70s. After a friend addressed the similarities, she credited Drake as a writer on the track. In the song, McAlpine uses modal chords reflecting those of traditional Appalachian music using the acoustic and electric guitar.
McAlpine is doing something revolutionary with this album. Not only is she using Appalachian instruments and themes, she brings a more produced, polished sound, thus modernizing folk Appalachian music and bringing a new generation of folk singers to the spotlight.
Alaina Sayre is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Alaina about their column? Email them at as015023@ohio.edu.
