Jacqueline Hackett - Pollyanna Cowgirl (2024) Hi-Res

Pollyanna Cowgirl was written in its entirety in 2022. Earlier that year, I first read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and empathized with the protagonist, who is unable to find satisfaction in herself and in her life. As the story progresses, her mental health deteriorates and becomes a story of vulgar self-loathing. When she is at rock bottom of comparison, the narrator describes a person as "Pollyanna Cowgirl". This quote refers to judging the ability of others to act "decent" and "okay" while struggling with their mental health. This idea brought attention to my own shielding of mental illness in my personal life, how many of us put on good and happy personas for ourselves as a means of survival. The entire album is an attempt to peel back those masks, beginning with the title track "Pollyanna Cowgirl", which is brutally honest about the various struggles I was experiencing at the time of writing. The album title is also a play on the alternative country sound that me and my band often compose. The album was recorded in March 2023 at Creamery Studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. My full band and I, including producers Sahil Ansari and Quinn Devlin, recorded over six days straight. No one in the band, except for Devlin and steel player/co-writer James Wyatt Woodall, had heard any of the songs before going into the studio. With no rehearsal time, many of the songs that ended up were a combination of all of our musical intuitions, and mostly recorded live. I felt that this method of recording was most true to the authenticity I was aiming for in producing and marketing this record.