Let's face it. If you're living in New York City and you make a mark in Nashville, the country music capital of the world, you've got to have something special, you've got to be something special. Joanna Mosca has proven that the special label fits her like the perfect lyric fits the perfect melody.
With her unmistakably rich country voice, tinted with a bit of pop and a dash of rock, Mosca's latest album is adding to the musical mark she's making in Music City USA. As a kid growing up in West Hartford, Conn., she listened to her father's favorite country songs - and she embraced them unabashedly. "I was definitely the only girl on the block listening to Patsy Cline," Mosca recalls.
"Have A Little Mercy," her new EP, reflects the country music of her youth wrapped in contemporary country songs. The album was produced by David Fanning and three members of Jason Aldean's band - Rich Redmond, Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy. The trio of musicians play on the EP, including the track "He Ain't You," written by Jim McCormick, Bill McDermott and Houston Davies. McCormick also co-wrote Aldean's No. 1 hit "Take A Little Ride."
Mosca did a drastic 180-degree career move to pursue her musical dreams. After realizing that being an intensive care nurse, hospital administrator and even an actress starring in three of her self-penned off-Broadway shows wasn't taking her toward a fulfilling goal, she shifted to a wholehearted pursuit of a musical career.
She started writing songs had some chart success with some of her tunes. She co-wrote "Keep on Going," which broke Billboard's Top 30 and crossed over to the country charts.
"That got me down to Nashville, where I started making the rounds and going to publishers," Mosca explains. "I saw that my songs made sense there and I wanted to learn more, because really, my heart is there anyway. I love lyrics and I love storytelling in a song."
She met other songwriters and people in the music industry. She even played the iconic Bluebird Café. Digital Journal placed Mosca on its "Top 10 Female Country Singers to Watch in 2014" list, and Examiner.com named her among the "Top 5 Female Country Newcomers" of 2014. And along the way, she has opened for LeAnn Rimes, Martin Sexton and others.
Mosca's immersing herself in the Nashville music scene created the spark for her self-titled album. The songs on that album led her to Grammy-winning hit-maker Bryan White, who produced her 2012 EP, "Let It All Begin." That album features a duet with Richie McDonald of Lonestar on "Where Does Love Go?" and the anti-bullying, self-empowerment anthem "Dream On Savannah."
Mosca included "Dream On Savannah" on her new release as an embedded video. Elements of the video were filmed at the Franklin Theatre, a restored deco-era landmark outside of Nashville.
"I decided to put it on my new EP because I've gotten a lot of great feedback, letters and emails from teenage girls," she acknowledges. "I just got a note a few months ago from a man whose son had just committed suicide at 15 years old. He asked me to help him spread the word about the foundation he's starting." The issue particularly resonates with the singer-songwriter because one of her sons is gay.
"There's still a lot of fear and hatred toward people who are different," she admits. "Having a gay son makes me much more aware of bullying, the hatred and intolerance in this world of ours, so 'Dream on Savannah' is important to me."
In describing the songs on "Have A Little Mercy," Mosca says they seem "to have turned out to be more about strong women with a sense of humor about love and a little bit of experience." That description seems to be right on target for Mosca herself.
The ladies on this EP "don't want to put up with any baloney," she adds. And when they find themselves falling in love - again - they know pitfalls line the road. "Here we go," Mosca declares, "have some mercy on me."