Wilcoxson sings backup for 'The Black Keys'

Kennett native, Ashley Wilcoxson, above right, is featured as a backup singer on the critically acclaimed album, El Camino, by the Grammy-Award winning rock duo, The Black Keys, bottom left, which consists of front-man Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, formerly of Akron, Ohio, presently living in Nashville, Tenn.

"The Black Keys," a Grammy-award winning rock duo, made up of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, hail from the Midwest area of Akron, Ohio, but have since migrated to the Nashville, Tenn., area, which they now call home. The band has received positive critical acclaim for their latest studio album, which interestingly enough features the back-up vocals of a Kennett native, putting yet another Bootheel name on the music map.

Ashley Wilcoxson, daughter of Daryl and Vicky Wilcoxson, of Kennett, comes across very humbled by the experience of singing back-up vocals on several of the album's tracks. Although she is proud to have been included in the project, she takes no credit for the album's success and politely declined to provide and in-depth interview regarding the experience.

She did, however, note that she was appreciative of the opportunity to work with the band on their album and seems proud of TBK's success. Rolling Stone magazine, for example, ranked "El Camino," released just in time on Dec. 6, as the 12th-best album of 2011. The album also boasted achievements that included debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 charts.

The album features eleven tracks including "Lonely Boy," the group's first single, which has been very successful and favored by listeners. The song was listed by Rolling Stone as its reader's "third-best song" of the year. However, the magazine itself gave accolades to the fourth track on the album, "Little Black Submarines," naming it the 18th-best song of 2011, a pretty impressive title.

Wilcoxson, paired with additional back-up vocalists help to provide a sexy pop swagger to an already sultry and soulful distinctive sound turned out by Auerbach and Carney, who in past albums have not relied so much on backing vocals to achieve their flair and signature sound, rather pulled their magic off with their traditional two-man band approach. On "El Camino," Auerbach supplies the vocals, guitar and composing, while Carney turns it up on the drums and also composes the tracks. In addition to Wilcoxson, Heather Rigdon and Leisa Hans, both good friend's of Ashley, are also listed as assisting performers or back-up vocalists, and Brian Burton helped to compose tracks while also performing on the keyboard. The album was produced by The Black Keys and "Danger Mouse," a.k.a. Brian Burton. Collectively, Wilcoxson sang background vocals on somewhere around seven of the eleven tracks.

Additional tracks on the album that were not previously mentioned include "Dead and Gone," "Gold on the Ceiling," "Money Maker," "Run Right Back," "Sister," "Hell of a Season," "Stop Stop," "Nova Baby" and "Mind Eraser."

A lot of the chorus lines on several of the tracks on "El Camino," in which Wilcoxson lends her voice to, have a Motown, soulful feel.

Combined with Auerbach's guitar and vocal skills and Carney banging it out on the drums, the background vocals sang by Wilcoxson, Rigdon and Hans add what some music critics have called a haunting richness to the album's tracks, provoking an energetic spirit inside the listener.

This isn't the first recording project Wilcoxson has been apart of. For some time now, she has been on the Nashville Music Scene working hard to make a name for herself within the industry. Since graduating Kennett High School in 2000, Wilcoxson has attended Belmont University in Nashville, and on a professional level has worked with Singer, Songwriter Joe Pagetta, providing guest harmony to his track, "Practice Makes Perfect."

She has also performed with other musicians, some freshman artists and others that are more developed, mature singer song-writers. Wilcoxson has her finger on the pulse of music's heartbeat, specifically in Music City, where she has served as Artist Manager at Sanctuary Artist Management company, and spent time as a publicist or in an assistant manager or retail partner liaison position for more than one company in the industry prior to.

Although seeing her name on the album credits of "El Camino" is exciting, and working with The Black Keys was a big project to be apart of for Wilcoxson, she remains humble in her own margined success. We should, however, remind readers that before the greatness of "Tuesday Night Music Club" by Kennett's own Sheryl Crow and what followed the success of that album, Crow had started out her career backing bigger names and signed artists, including the legendary Michael Jackson. So to underestimate the ability for Wilcoxson to carve her own name in stone as a widely recognized recording artist isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Many say its fair to consider Wilcoxson as an up-and-coming artist to "keep your eye on," a similar comparison to other Bootheel natives who made their way into the world of music stardom. In addition to Grammy award-winning singer Sheryl Crow, Country Music Male Performers David Nail and Trent Tomlinson, both from Kennett, have each seen their names on the top country music charts.

To sample some of the "El Camino" tracks in which Wilcoxson's backing vocals appear, or to order a copy of the album, log on to the main artist's website, www.theblackkeys.com. Songs are also available for download via iTunes.