Angie Aparo Rewires, Rebounds

Atlanta folk-rock veteran Angie Aparo’s latest round of metaphor-filled songs of faith and life, as heard on forthcoming album Life is a Flower, Life is a Gun, is the first informed by a recent health scare. Aparo, the songwriter behind Faith Hill’s “Cry” and other crossover hits, suffered a stroke in April 2016 at the age of 55.

“I suffered from a spontaneous carotid artery dissection (left neck),” Aparo says in a press release. “Within a few hours, I had a stroke due to the dissection. Although there are many forms, I suffered from aphasia, inability to understand speaking and a sub-type of aphasia called anomia, the inability to name things. I also suffered from memory loss (which I believe accompanies most all strokes).”

As usual, Aparo, who’ll play Eddie’s Attic on Feb. 9th, looks to the Bible and other literary influences to put his own struggles into words. For example, a song about John the Baptist sheds some light on Aparo’s physical and inner-personal recovery. The only partial disappointment is “Punk Rock Girl,” which is a funky alt-rock throwback instead of a tribute to the decidedly un-spiritual Dead Milkmen.