Miami-based Y&T Music continues on a roll with the 2024 solo album by lovely, ageless and delightfully eccentric late 20th Century pop-rock luminary Nathalie Archangel. Following two major label albums and several indie releases, Nathalie finally resurfaced in a definitive way in 2021 with the self-produced (along with the legendary James Jae-E Earley) debut album of her Country Glam-rock project Nineteen Hand Horse.

The East Bay, California based band is built around Nathalie and her partner Mark Montijo. They describe themselves as a duetting couple as “Shorter and less elegant than Johnny and June but taller and more functional than George and Tammy. We firmly believe there is a place for us.”

As we await the anticipated second album by Nineteen Hand Horse, Miami, South Florida-based Yesterday & Today Music takes advantage of the situation with a wonderfully produced 28-minute, 10-track tribute CD/DL to Patsy Cline, Patsy On The Porch, an album that essentially marks the solo return of Ms. Archangel.

RMR spoke to Y&T Music founder Rich Ulloa who told us, “My philosophy on working with artists has been pretty basic... I love releasing new music that I am passionate about and proud to have on my label. Nathalie’s CD was a total and welcome surprise to me. To me, Patsy Cline is the greatest female vocalist who ever lived (even though Billie Holiday is my #1 fave) and the thought of someone covering her songs was not something I would ever expect to like. But when I heard Nathalie’s versions, I was truly blown away. Her sultry and sexy interpretations with a modern production style blew me away and I can't wait to have people hear it!”

Nineteen Hand Horse co-founder Mark Montijo is featured here on lead and rhythm guitar and is as well a member of the backing chorus, The Ordinaires, led by acclaimed Orchestrator Bruno Coon (Disney, Randy Newman). They are a true tip of the hat to the legendary first call background singers, The Jordannaires.

With a bevy of first rate musicians, including Grammy-winning Slack-key guitarist Jim “Kimo” West and Robert Clot (pedal steel), the sound of Patsy On The Porch is first rate and absolutely authentic. The album is underscored by the timeless production of Nathalie and co-producer Michael Peterson, who also engineered and mixed Patsy On The Porch.

In her liner notes, Nathalie raves on about Patsy Cline, well appreciating her short-lived career. The period following Buddy Holly’s fatal plane crash in 1959 was pivotal for many country-pop artists heralding Patsy’s rapid ascent into the pop world and tragic death in a 1963 plane crash. Nathalie’s Patsy Cline valentine is a fitting tribute to that late 1950’s budding country-rock sound proffered by Buddy and a milieu of fabled songwriters and singers, and for a time after Patsy as well.

Musically, the ten tracks Nathalie has chosen to spotlight on Patsy On The Porch are each timeless classics written in some cases expressly for Patsy by some of the biggest and best country music songwriters of that late ‘50s and early ‘60s era including Hank Cochran, Pee Wee King, Mel Tillis, Willie Nelson and Harlan Howard, to name but a few of the American songwriting giants here.

Working with the well-respected South Florida based Y&T Music, Nathalie expresses, “Rich and Don thought it should be longer than 5 tunes and ultimately Rich wanted it to be full length. He brought “Seven Lonely Days” in as it is one of his favorite songs. Y&T artist Drew Weaver brought “When I Get Through With You” to our attention and we fell in love with the tune. Putting this together has been a true collaborative effort!”

“When I Get Through With You” is one of Harlan Howard’s best compositions and it lands perfectly in Nathalie’s hands. The Ordinaires backup vocals are evocative of the post-Buddy Holly era in pop music history.

The album closer “Sweet Dreams” (composed by Don Gibson in 1955) is burnished splendiferously in Nathalie’s musical aura and contains an unexpected and delightful surprise. There is an eight bar bridge in the middle which Nathalie, known traditionally first and foremost as a writer, composed. “This is one of my favorite songs and Don Gibson is one of my favorite writers, but I heard the bridge in my head and I couldn’t ignore it.” The new bridge adds a stunning and unexpected moment to one of the most celebrated torch songs ever written.

Nathalie Archangel and the fabulous players on hand lead this music into the realm of the pop music church of all time. While these songs, many first interpreted by Patsy Cline, are remembered primarily as early country music in style, on Patsy On The Porch they still very much echo the early magic of 1959 and well into the early 1960s AM radio age.

While Patsy On The Porch isn’t totally representative of the wide berth of Nathalie Archangel’s glory, the trip back to that post-Buddy era of AM radio magic is greatly enhanced by her deep understanding of these American songwriter giants.

From what I’ve heard of it so far, the second Nineteen Hand Horse album, She’s A Show is shaping up to be a wonder and a winner, but taking time to smell the roses 65 years later, Patsy On The Porch puts a smile on your face as you bask in a nostalgic glow of pre-Beatles magic via the innocence of the early JFK years.