Barnett’s Collection of Pop and Country Standards,
A Nashville Songbook, is Available for Pre-Order Now;
Album Release Aug. 21 on Melody Place
NASHVILLE, TN – Torch country stylist Mandy Barnett premiered her tender music video for “Help Me Make It Through The Night” today, exclusively on Taste of Country. See it HERE.
“Kris Kristofferson’s song is so special and beautiful,” Barnett said. “It needed a video that conveyed a sense of loneliness and yearning, while also expressing a wistful and poignant mood. Video director Erika Rock nailed it!”
“Mandy Barnett sings as if Kris Kristofferson pulled the lyrics to ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night’ from her experiences during a cover of the 50-year-old, award-winning classic,” wrote Billy Dukes of the Taste of Country exclusive premier.
The song is featured on A Nashville Songbook, Barnett’s debut album for label Melody Place, distributed by BMG. The album, which is a collection of pop and country standards that solidified Music City’s reputation as a creative hub for popular music, is scheduled for release on Aug. 21. It is now available for pre-sale with previously released tracks “The End of the World” and “It’s Now Or Never,” in addition to “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” Listen HERE.
Barnett brings her emotional depth and interpretive skills to “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” which has been lauded by media tastemakers including Goldmine, “The Song, covered by dozens of stars, is now owned by Mandy Barnett. It’s hers”; Sounds Like Nashville, “Featuring just Barnett’s voice, a piano and delicate swells of strings, she wrings every ounce of heartbreak from one of the genre’s most enduring standards”; and Music Row, “One of contemporary music’s most lustrous voices meets one of the all-time great compositional masterpieces…Exquisite.”
The song and upcoming album, which was inspired by Barnett’s popular “Nashville Songbook” U.S. and international concert tour, were produced by noted producer Fred Mollin (Jimmy Webb, Johnny Mathis, Kristofferson), president of Melody Place.
Originally a hit by Sammi Smith, “Help Me Make It Through The Night” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Kristofferson was inspired to write the song by an article he read in Esquire about Frank Sinatra. When asked what he believed in, Sinatra replied, “Booze, broads, or a Bible…whatever helps me make it through the night.” The song went on to win two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female in 1971.
The 13 tracks on A Nashville Songbook were originally recorded by artists as diverse as Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Hank Williams, Boy George, Anne Murray, Brenda Lee, and Nazareth; and were written by some of the format’s most important tunesmiths including Boudleaux Bryant, Harlan Howard, Orbison, and Kristofferson.
Called the “Nashville Sound Chanteuse” (Music Row), Barnett has built a reputation for her commanding voice and unwavering devotion to classic country music and the pioneers who created it. Barnett first gained national prominence as the original star of the stage musical “Always…Patsy Cline” at the famed Ryman Auditorium.
The Chicago Tribune calls Barnett “a torch singer in the grandest sense of the word.” Music reviewers praise her world-class vocals: “natural musicality” (People), “big, silky, expressive voice” (Billboard), and “vocal finesse” (New York Times). USA Today calls Barnett one of Nashville’s “finest classic country and torch singers,” while the Austin Chronicle notes that “when people start talking about Mandy Barnett, eventually the word ‘amazing’ gets used.”