New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

“Out Here Now,” the second album by New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn under her Ever More Nest moniker, is very much in the tradition of its predecessor, in all the right ways.

Once again, she has created a collection of well-crafted, articulate songs sung in a voice that is clear, strong, precise and expressive. The album has a sonic depth and rich texture courtesy of the Nashville producer and musicians who once again served as her collaborators.

Interwoven electric and pedal steel guitars haunt the melancholy title track, even as Wilburn wraps the warmth of her voice around it like blanket.

Like a meandering stream winding its way to a river, the spry, finger-picked acoustic guitar figure that ushers in “Out Loud” eventually takes off in a galloping chorus, only to melt away once again by the song’s conclusion.

Wilburn celebrates the release of “Out Here Now” on Friday at Zony Mash Beer Project (3940 Thalia St.). The show kicks off at 8 p.m. with comedy from JQ Palms and a performance by Emily & the Velvet Ropes.

In addition to Wilburn, the Ever More Nest band on Friday will feature her wife, Lucy Cordts, on banjo and mandolin, Dave DeCotiis on guitar, Rebecca Crenshaw on fiddle, Alec Barnes on drums and Chris Nicotera on bass.

Presale tickets via Eventbrite are $10 general admission, $25 VIP (which includes preferred seating, a signed copy of the new CD and a show poster). Tickets on the day of show are $12 general admission, $30 VIP.

Born Kelcy Wilburn – “Kelcy Mae” is a nickname bestowed by her maternal grandfather – she grew up in Shreveport and started writing music in high school. She moved to New Orleans in 2001 to major in English and minor in music business studies at Loyola University. At the urging of friends, she braved open mic nights at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse.

She graduated from Loyola in May 2005, three months before Hurricane Katrina temporarily chased her back to Shreveport. In 2007, she enrolled in the University of New Orleans to pursue a master of fine arts in poetry. She released her debut full-length CD, “The Times Compiled,” around the same time.

She graduated in 2010. A year later, her “Pennies in Hand” album showcased her growth as a singer and songwriter. She made an even greater leap forward with her 2018 album “The Place That You Call Home.”

New Orleans-based Americana singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn.

That was her first album under the band name Ever More Nest, which was inspired by a line in a poem by Mary Ann Samyn. The new name also signaled a shift in her sound, from folk-pop to Americana/alt-country. Americana music, she had discovered, was a natural fit for her, even if she required several albums to figure that out.

To manifest that sound, she traveled to Nashville to work with producer Neilson Hubbard. She had loved the sound he conjured on singer-songwriter Caroline Spence’s 2017 album “Spades & Roses” and hired him without ever having met face to face. When she arrived at Skinny Elephant Recording in Nashville, she recalled this week, “there was some nervousness.”

But given that Hubbard and the rest of core creative team in Nashville all hailed from the Gulf South – Hubbard from Jackson, Mississippi, multi-instrumentalist Will Kimbrough from Mobile and studio owner/engineer Dylan Alldredge from Pass Christian, Miss. – they immediately bonded over the Saints. She soon felt at home.

The results of that recording session spoke for themselves: “The Place That You Call Home” represented a huge leap forward for Wilburn and the presentation of her material.

As she started thinking about the follow-up, she considered using a different producer and studio. “But I arrived back at, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ Coming out of the pandemic, I needed something familiar. And I still feel like I’m part of that soundscape. It’s the right place to be.”

She’s correct, as she once again sounds right at home within the soundscape Hubbard and the others sketched out around her. Kimbrough contributed guitar, banjo and mandolin, running chords and single notes through his elaborate array of effects pedals.

“Will knows I want these ghostly, ethereal sounds. He puts that on even before more traditional guitar parts.”

Half of the album’s new songs were written during the pandemic. Many of the others grew out of the miles she logged on the road before the COVID lockdown. On tour, “you talk to strangers and see different landscapes, changes in weather patterns and seasons. There’s a lot to be inspired by.

“A lot of my early records focused on relationships. There’s still some of that on ‘Out Here Now’ too. But loneliness is something you feel a lot on the road. It doesn’t have to be about a romantic relationship.”

If touring is a rich source of songs, expect many more to be forthcoming. Backed by a new booking agent based in North Carolina, Wilburn plans to spend much of the rest of the year on the road, often as a duo with Dave DeCotiis.

Her sets will likely include “Hymn.” If Wilburn’s new record has a centerpiece, it’s probably “Hymn,” the sixth track.

“To me it has all of the emotions of the record – frustration, loneliness, uncertainty, but also awe,” she said. “Probably all those things are present in other songs, here and there.

"And 'Hymn' has such a fun, explosive ending. It’s one of my favorite songs to play.”

And one of the highlights on an album full of them.

Email Keith Spera at kspera@theadvocate.com.

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