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Western Heritage Awards
Awarded in 2025
On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines
Traditional Western Album
“…something new and wondrous.” -The Wall Street Journal
“The way she can move into the inner beauty of these dozen songs is like watching a sunset appear suddenly in the western sky. There is no way to really explain it. Instead, it’s best to open the heart and experience what is right there in front of us…every word on the album gets her expansive ability to make these lyrics come completely alive. The end result, thankfully, is a timelessness that only the finest in music is capable of creating.” -Bill Bentley, Americana Highways
Featured in Santa Fe New Mexican’s Pasatiempo; Western Way Magazine; The Wall Street Journal; DownBeat Magazine; Stereophile Magazine; The TImes of London; The Absolute Sound; and more
Alaska-raised, New York City-based vocalist Hilary Gardner’s new album, “On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines,” transports listeners to the nostalgic heart of the American West. The music paints soundscapes of the archetypal cowboy’s life on the trail—replete with pale dawns, purple hills, and the high lonesome feeling of camping out beneath a vast, star-filled sky. The seeds for the project were sown during the early months of the pandemic, when Gardner, from the confines of her Brooklyn apartment, found herself dreaming of wide-open spaces.
Gardner’s jazz bona fides belie her rustic upbringing: she grew up in rural Alaska surrounded by vintage country music, and her first gigs as a teenager were performing Patsy Cline tunes in dive bars. “I learned so much about singing from Patsy Cline,” Gardner says.
Since moving to New York City in 2003, Gardner has released four albums as a leader; played Frank Sinatra’s vocal counterpart in Twyla Tharp’s hit Broadway production, “Come Fly Away”; and is a founding member of the award-winning close harmony trio Duchess.
In a return to her roots, Gardner began delving into repertoire from the “singing cowboy” era of the 1930s-40s, discovering a treasure trove of material ranging from atmospheric ballads tinged with melancholy to swing with a sense of humor. “I love seeking out ‘hidden gem’ tunes—songs that, for whatever reason, didn’t become as well known as they should have,” she says. “These ‘trail songs’ have been neglected for decades because they can’t be easily classified as jazz or country or pop or Americana—they’re a combination of all those genres, and they inhabit a sonic landscape uniquely their own, too.”
Guided by her belief that no corner of the Great American Songbook should go unexplored, Gardner teamed up with Justin Poindexter (guitars, vocals), Noah Garabedian (bass), and Aaron Thurston (drums), and The Lonesome Pines were born. “The first time we all played together, it was magic,” she recalls. “Musical chemistry is this wonderfully intangible, unpredictable thing, and when the stars align, it’s such a gift. The songs came to life organically as we explored the music as a band.”
“…something new and wondrous.” -The Wall Street Journal
“The way she can move into the inner beauty of these dozen songs is like watching a sunset appear suddenly in the western sky. There is no way to really explain it. Instead, it’s best to open the heart and experience what is right there in front of us…every word on the album gets her expansive ability to make these lyrics come completely alive. The end result, thankfully, is a timelessness that only the finest in music is capable of creating.” -Bill Bentley, Americana Highways
Featured in Santa Fe New Mexican’s Pasatiempo; Western Way Magazine; The Wall Street Journal; DownBeat Magazine; Stereophile Magazine; The TImes of London; The Absolute Sound; and more
Alaska-raised, New York City-based vocalist Hilary Gardner’s new album, “On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines,” transports listeners to the nostalgic heart of the American West. The music paints soundscapes of the archetypal cowboy’s life on the trail—replete with pale dawns, purple hills, and the high lonesome feeling of camping out beneath a vast, star-filled sky. The seeds for the project were sown during the early months of the pandemic, when Gardner, from the confines of her Brooklyn apartment, found herself dreaming of wide-open spaces.
Gardner’s jazz bona fides belie her rustic upbringing: she grew up in rural Alaska surrounded by vintage country music, and her first gigs as a teenager were performing Patsy Cline tunes in dive bars. “I learned so much about singing from Patsy Cline,” Gardner says.
Since moving to New York City in 2003, Gardner has released four albums as a leader; played Frank Sinatra’s vocal counterpart in Twyla Tharp’s hit Broadway production, “Come Fly Away”; and is a founding member of the award-winning close harmony trio Duchess.
In a return to her roots, Gardner began delving into repertoire from the “singing cowboy” era of the 1930s-40s, discovering a treasure trove of material ranging from atmospheric ballads tinged with melancholy to swing with a sense of humor. “I love seeking out ‘hidden gem’ tunes—songs that, for whatever reason, didn’t become as well known as they should have,” she says. “These ‘trail songs’ have been neglected for decades because they can’t be easily classified as jazz or country or pop or Americana—they’re a combination of all those genres, and they inhabit a sonic landscape uniquely their own, too.”
Guided by her belief that no corner of the Great American Songbook should go unexplored, Gardner teamed up with Justin Poindexter (guitars, vocals), Noah Garabedian (bass), and Aaron Thurston (drums), and The Lonesome Pines were born. “The first time we all played together, it was magic,” she recalls. “Musical chemistry is this wonderfully intangible, unpredictable thing, and when the stars align, it’s such a gift. The songs came to life organically as we explored the music as a band.”
