Americana artist James Coates sings about what he knows: falling and getting back up again. His latest album One Last Ride was lovingly crafted over a period of five years.

The result is a deeply personal look into the life of an artist through handcrafted songs, made even more immersive when performed by Coates's clique of talented local session players, which include a horn section and backing chorus.

But above all the lush instrumentation sits the voice of the storyteller. Producers ditched the autotune relied on by so many artists to instead create an artifact of humanistic beauty: one songwriter and his stories, the way he wants them told.

Website:

http://www.jamescoates.net