“Dani Flowers brought this song to the band,” recalls Sister Sadie’s award-winning fiddler Deanie Richardson about how the group came to record “All Will Be Well” for Mountain Home Music Company. “She played me [dobroist and singer] Jimmy Stewart’s version. I love Jimmy, and loved his version of this Gabe Dixon song. I could hear Dani singing it instantly” — and, indeed, Flowers sings a riveting lead on the single, the award-winning sextet’s first since the January release of their acclaimed album, No Fear.
Still, Richardson, named this year’s IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, goes on to note, “As excited as I was about that, I was just as excited about the song lyrics and the title. ‘All Will Be Well’ represents where we all are as a band of strong, talented, independent women.” In that respect, the song (written and separately recorded in the mid-aughts by both Dixon and his co-writer, Dan Wilson) is a natural thematic follow-on to No Fear. The album, the group’s first in over 5 years, put a button on growing acclaim for the ensemble — individually and collectively, its members earned multiple IBMA award nominations and racked up a half-dozen wins between 2019 and 2021 — and served to introduce a solidified lineup that includes founding members Richardson and Gena Britt (vocals, banjo); singer/guitarist Flowers; 2024 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Jaelee Roberts (vocals, guitar) and the newest addition, bassist/vocalist Maddie Dalton.
Picking up from where No Fear left off with a powerful banjo opening, “All Will Be Well” exudes an attitude of emotional confidence born of experience, and a wisdom that’s worldly, but not world-weary:
The new day dawns
And I am practicing my purpose once again
It is fresh and it is fruitful if I win, but if I lose
Oooh, I don’t know
I’ll be tired, but I will turn and I will go
Only guessing ’til I get there then I’ll know
Oooh, I will know
…
All will be well
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself
All will be well
You can ask me how but only time will tell
Punctuated with ripples of Richardson’s fiddle and guest Mary Meyer’s mandolin; moved along by Britt’s dynamic banjo, Dalton’s foundational bass, with rhythm guitar and tasteful drumming from studio aces Seth Taylor and Dave Racine respectively; and embroidered with supple harmonies from Roberts and Dalton, “All Will Be Well” is convincing proof of Sister Sadie’s ability to draw in songs from beyond the borders of bluegrass and locate them, not in the traditional center of the genre, but along those borders — all in service of a message that embraces the future even as it acknowledges the past.
“We have collectively and individually overcome (and are still in the process of overcoming) some life obstacles and heartbreaks and hardships,” confesses Flowers. “But there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re all very excited about where we’re headed in life and in music.”
“Each of us has grown through challenging times in our own personal lives and as a band,” adds Richardson. “Through all of those trials and challenges, we have made it to the other side and found ourselves in even better positions in our lives and in this band together. We believe in spreading a positive energy, that positivity will come back to you and ‘All Will Be Well’!”
“All Will Be Well” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Listen to it HERE.