Some people say Nashville doesn't put out good country music anymore. Audrey Auld's Tonk album will prove them wrong. And how!

Singing better than ever and released on her own Reckless Records imprint, Tonk is without doubt Audrey Auld’s finest work to date. Audrey wears her love for old-school country on her sleeve. But this is no retro devotional. Audrey is a self-actualized woman singing out all her love, loneliness and laughter, with a fabulous band playing a swinging beat. This is country music the way it ought to feel.

The past six years spent living in Nashville inspired many of the songs on Tonk.
Says Audrey, "I stood in the studio with this great band and knew that I had lived my whole life to get to this point. It was so much fun and such an honour to play with these great guys, the way country music should be recorded. There's not much I needed to say to them. I'd just play them the song and they'd fall right in the groove."

Tonk was recorded in the late Jim Reeves' studio in Nashville and produced by George Bradfute and Kenny Vaughan. Kenny invited his Fabulous Superlative mates Harry Stinson and Paul Martin along with Chris Scruggs, Andy Leftwich (Ricky Skaggs) and Gary Carter (Connie Smith). Music City was built by great musicians like these, playing together live in the studio, and Tonk was made the same way. No isolation booths, no compiling, no 'phoned-in' tracks. Every track on Tonk captures the fun and ease of the sessions. Audrey and the Tonk band recorded 16 songs in 2 days and boy do they sound good.

Twelve tracks are from Audrey's pen, plus 'Crying The Blues' by Willie P. Bennett (Fred Eaglesmith band) and Sydney's Terry McArthur wrote 'Sweet Alcohol'. Fourteen tracks are on the CD Tonk, while two additional songs recorded during the same sessions (unsuitable for kids or the delicate) are available on 7" vinyl and mp3 download.

“Right from the outset, this latest release from the Nashville residing Aussie sets out to be a blueprint of how traditional country music can be made relevant in the 21st Century and Audrey succeeds in this mission. ...the fourteen tracks of TONK span the repertoire of traditional country served with a voice ranging from tear jerking sweetness to an earthy bitterness. The style is uncompromising and organic with a touch of humour added both lyrically and in the outtake nature to some of the songs. ...this exceptional album shouldn’t just be directed at specific groups as its paradigm of country values will spread out to anybody with a fleeting interest in the genre." ~ Three Chords & The Truth Blog, UK

"Tonk is a great album with my favourite artwork of the year so far and Audrey Auld’s voice and songwriting skills are talents to behold in a very shallow musical world." ~ Alan Harrison, No Depression

"This is an all round great album. It is rooted in traditional country music but is never backward looking. The playing and the singing are focused and sharp. The songwriting is well thought out. However it is, above all, great fun. A great listen. It certainly honks my tonk." ~ Lonesome Highway, Ireland

“Tonk” is a good natured album just like they used to make before the business decided to retrofit that pedal steel sound on to AOR. If this were 1967, I don’t doubt that Audrey Auld would be singing at the Grand Ole Opry."
~ BluesBunny Music Reviews, UK