The âLittlest Pistolâ has arrived! Country music artist and member of the trio Pistol Annies Angaleena Presley and her husband, Jordan Powell, welcomed daughter Phoenix Joeleena Jean Powell on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.
Weighing in at 7.8 lbs., and measuring 17.5 inches, Phoenix made her debut at 7:49 a.m.
As first revealed by People magazine, the family is doing well and completely in love with their new addition.
âIâm so glad to add this strong female to our family. She is tiny but she is fierce. Jordan and [my son] Jed are both by her side and head over heels,â says Angaleena.
The babyâs name is especially meaningful, as it merges family monikers with homages to both a beloved matriarch and a late friend.
âWe chose Phoenix all together, Joeleena is a combination of my friend Tony Joe White who passed away a few months ago and âleena,â which is family name from Angaleenaâs side,â Jordan explains. âJean is my grandmotherâs name â sheâs 92 and helped raise me.â
Phoenix seems to have inherited her momâs love of music. Hours before she was born, the soon-to-arrive baby was soothed by the melodies of two country music icons who hail from her mom and dadâs respective home states, Kentucky and Texas.
âLast night when we were admitted to the hospital before delivery, Phoenixâs heart rate got up really high and she was kicking the crap out of me… to try and calm her down, Jordan played the Kentucky/Texas combo of a Loretta [Lynn] and Willie [Nelson] duet up against my belly. Within 15 seconds her heart rate dropped to normal and she relaxed,â Angaleena says. âI guess she knew already where her roots were. Nothing like a piece of home to heal a heart.â
This is Angaleenaâs second child, but her first with Jordan, whom she married in 2012. Jed, her son from a previous relationship, is 12 years old.
Itâs been a busy year for the Bluegrass State native, whose âheroicâ (NPR, Ken Tucker) sophomore album Wrangled bowed in 2017 to critical acclaim. Last year, she traveled to the UK to perform at Londonâs The Long Road Festival, and returned to the studio to cut Pistol Anniesâ third album, Interstate Gospel, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart in November.
Presley continues to work on solo material and will perform with the Anniesâ Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe at the Loretta Lynn Birthday Celebration Concert at Nashvilleâs Bridgestone Arena on April 1, alongside Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Kacey Musgraves and more.