Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson tell their truth plainly

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/ [login to see] /review-katie-crutchfield-jess-williamson-plains
At the heart of I Walked With You A Ways, the debut album from Plains, there's a sense of freedom. It's the freedom of driving fast down an enormous, dusty road: "tak[ing] the quickest route on this 4-lane highway," but also "crying on the highway with my windows down." It's the kind of liberation that comes from finding your own path, after you've brushed aside everyone else's expectations and judgements — of knowing what's true to you and where you're headed, even if you know the road ahead is challenging. The album is a collaboration between Katie Crutchfield, who writes and records as Waxahatchee, and Jess Williamson. Together, the two songwriters craft stories of heartbreak, empathy and self-knowledge, bolstered by a wry wisdom and rooted in their shared love of classic country sounds.

Crutchfield and Williamson met five years ago, introduced by Crutchfield's partner Kevin Morby; Crutchfield told the New York Times that, upon meeting Williamson, she immediately thought, "This person is for me." The two quickly developed an intense friendship on top of their mutual admiration for each other's music.