Nashville singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman: new album, Back To Love, Iron Horse gig Friday, June 11th

Longtime fans of Beth Nielsen Chapman will notice that the black & white portrait on the cover of her new CD, Back To Love, bears a striking resemblance to the artwork on her self-titled 1990 album. Happily, the similarity doesn't end there. Over the course of 11 stunning new compositions, Back To Love brings the acclaimed, Nashville-based singer/songwriter full circle, back to the soul-deep songwriting style that made her famous and provided big hits for herself and covers by an impressive and eclectic group of artists including Elton John, Faith Hill, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Neil Diamond, Patty Griffin and Emmylou Harris, to name but a few. And while the soaring melodies, bell-clear vocals and heart-penetrating lyrics are reassuringly in place, there's a new depth to the singer and to the songs, reflecting every turn in the tragic (Beth lost her husband to cancer and is a survivor of both breast cancer and a brain tumor) and-triumphant road Nielsen Chapman has traveled.

Beth calls Back to Love her return to pop music and the successful Nashville tunesmith works in an early-'70s mode throughout the album — you can almost see her grooving away to Abbey Road and Big Star’s #1 Record as she figures out those tricky George Harrison and Chris Bell chord progressions. For legions of tried-and-true fans, this new release represents an exuberant return to the style that distinguished some of her best work and produced some of her biggest hits. For newcomers to the magic and the music of Beth Nielsen Chapman, Back To Love is a bright new chapter in her songbook of life’s revelations. Her musical journey has taken her in a number of directions during the past thirty years, but perhaps none so enjoyable as the contentment on Back To Love.

Tickets for Beth Nielsen Chapman plus Rebecca Correia at the Iron Horse on Friday, June 11^th at 7PM (Doors/Dinner from 5:30) are $17.50 and available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.