AURELIA ANNE COHEN by Zachariah Orbin
CHRIS EMMERT by Ericka Poore
Anti-Corp Music’s beloved series The Magnolia Sessions arrives with new albums from AURELIA ANNE COHEN and CHRIS EMMERT, both set for release on January 2nd, with songs from both albums now streaming.
Launched in 2020, The Magnolia Sessions showcases bluegrass, dark country, and folk singer/songwriter acts, recorded live in an intimate outdoor setting by a large magnolia tree at the Anti-Corp/Black Matter Mastering headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, by owner Dan Emery. The series has delivered albums from the likes of Lost Dog Street Band, The Hill Country Devil, Joe Wunderle, Cooper McBean, The Resonant Rogues, Matt Heckler, Jason Dea West, Johno Leeroy, Cristina Vane, Nick Hans, Casper Allen, Jeff Loops, Angela Autumn, Tyler Hood, Jade Brodie, Douglas Francisco, Ivan McLeod, Austin Stambaugh, and Willi Carlisle, many of which have debuted on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts. The series had been hibernating from late-Summer 2022 until late 2024 when Willi Carlisle’s installment was released to benefit victims of Hurricane Helene, followed by two new installments from Coleman Williams and Joe’s Truck Stop in November 2025.
The very first days of 2026 will yield new albums in The Magnolia Sessions series from AURELIA ANNE COHEN and CHRIS EMMERT.
On her installment, AURELIA ANNE COHEN states, “This Magnolia Session is a time capsule. Sometimes there is a strong mood or feeling which flavors a recording, this session was quite impromptu, and I am interested to see how some of the songs on it mature, but these variations were fun to record, and the crickets did especially well.”
Dan Emery of Anti-Corp Music and Black Matter Mastering, who conceived and conducts The Magnolia Sessions, adds, “This was Aurelia’s second visit to the tree. The first time was with a previous band that broke up before we could release their session. This was an easy one to record because Aurelia is very much at home performing in the elements. It was a very smooth-running session all around.”
CHRIS EMMERT reveals on his installment in the series, “This album is a blend of both old and new songs. Most of them were meant for other albums or projects and have been swapped or backburnered. We recorded them a few years ago and the somewhat misfit collection of tunes made perfect for this type of raw and stripped-down field recording. Allowing me to play them the way I wrote them and avoid thinking too much about their arrangement or development. However, there are a few here I still intend to revisit someday.”
Emery adds, “Chris’s session is the second of the two that were recorded a while ago and didn’t get released until a couple of years later. We did this in September of 2023, but these songs still sound vibrant and amazing to me. So never releasing them was not an option.”
Stream AURELIA ANNE COHEN’s “Carry It With You” HERE and CHRIS EMMERT’s “Faded Colors On Paisley Print” HERE.
Both albums will be released on all digital/streaming platforms on January 2nd. Presave AURELIA ANNE COHEN’s album HERE and CHRIS EMMERT’s HERE. Check out the official Spotify Playlist for The Magnolia Sessions HERE.
ANNE COHEN’s The Magnolia Sessions Track Listing:
1. Black Sea Waltz
2. Father Time
3. Carry It With You
4. Waltz From Galicia
5. Fairweather
6. Now’s All You Get
7. Bluemont Waltz
8. Amari Szi Amari
9. When The Next Whistle Blows
CHRIS EMMERT’s The Magnolia Sessions Track Listing:
1. Oh-I-Owe It All To You, Ohio
2. Faded Colors On Paisley Print
3. Something To Miss
4. Talking Waitin’ Blues
5. Anymore
6. Old State Pen
7. Long Goodbye
8. Madison And Main
9. Belongs To Time
Originally from Tucson, ANNE ANNE COHEN trained in classical ballet, folk dance, and theater in her youth. Her grandmother, Stephanie Stigers Varon, a celebrated ballerina, began her granddaughter’s training at age three. Moving to the Navajo reservation at age eight and then down to the border of Mexico at eleven caused her life view to diversify at an early age. At fourteen years old, she discovered the aerial arts, joining a dance company as the youngest performing member and soon entered the world of professional physical theater, spectacle and circus arts. She began traveling, teaching, and performing internationally in 2006, working with North America’s premier pyrotechnic theater troupe, Flam Chen as a principal performer, choreographer, and director and for the non–profit, Many Mouths One Stomach. She also helped develop the Tucson Circus Arts Aerial program.
In 2010 she met Jason Dea West, she embraced her long-standing desire to learn an instrument to accompany her songwriting, and they have made music and toured extensively with Jason Dea West as Intuitive Compass. She has worked as a principal performer with The Carpetbag Brigade and as an aerialist, dancer, and designer with Anatomia Dance Collective and Shadow Tender as an assistant director/costume designer and choreographer.
ANNE ANNE COHEN’s installment of The Magnolia Sessions features a mix of original songs and a few traditionals with her friend, Brice Clayborne Clark, joining the session on fiddle. They will be on tour in the West and on the West Coast in February promoting the release.
From a small city nestled in the foothills of Southeast, Ohio, comes the authentic voice and musical artistry of CHRIS EMMERT. Steeped in the rich cultural tapestry of his upbringing, EMMERT is a gifted songwriter and accomplished musician whose sound organically blends the timeless traditions of folk, the storytelling soul of country, the raw emotion of the blues, and the high and lonesome sound of bluegrass. His music paints vivid pictures of life, love, and the landscapes that have shaped him.
Now calling Nashville, Tennessee home, EMMERT has taken his deeply rooted sound to the cradle of country music. His debut solo album, Fool From The Foothills, released by independent Nashville label Anti-Corp Records, marked a significant milestone in his musical journey. This collection of songs offers listeners an intimate experience of EMMERT’s lyrical depth and his ability to weave compelling narratives through his music. With a genuine connection to his Appalachian heritage and a passion for crafting honest and resonant songs, CHRIS EMMERT is an artist whose music promises to captivate and endure.
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