Quality over quantity is sometimes what it’s all about. This week’s edition of our premiere round-up is small but mighty, with brand new tracks and videos from a stellar collection of roots musicians.
To kick us off, singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd brings us a properly spooky video for her track, “Call Your Wife,” which was filmed at an abandoned amusement park in West Virginia. The song is about anger and shame, growth and change, running away and getting caught back up in it again, too. It’s an excellent lead in to spooky and scary season, that’s for sure.
Next, our friends Nefesh Mountain have a gorgeous new fall-tinged video for an original song, “Regrets In The Rearview,” that features an all-star lineup of bluegrass legends. It’s a paean to gratitude, to living life for the moment, and celebrates finding peace – and a home – in movement and change. We think it’s the perfect song to put on for your drive to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard.
To wrap us up, California roots duo Two Runner – made up of Paige Anderson and Emilie Rose – perform “Late Dinner” live from a cozy front porch. They combine old-time, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and more into their own exemplary sound, which highlights the slightly melancholy story just perfectly.
It’s an apropos musical triptych for fall, for golden hour, for sipping some hot cider or cozying up beneath a blanket as the autumn rain falls outside. And, you know what we think… You Gotta Hear This!
Juliet Lloyd, “Call Your Wife”
Artist: Juliet Lloyd
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Song: “Call Your Wife”
Album: Carnival
Release Date: October 25, 2024
In Their Words: “It’s funny to me that the most carnival-sounding song on the entire album is not the title track – it’s this one. ‘Call Your Wife’ was inspired by an anonymous text message that I got in the middle of the night. I had released another single from the album, ‘Pretty,’ a few weeks before, and it was a really personal song that parsed through my complicated feelings about an old relationship that I’ve mostly run from in the 20 years since. The text message said I wasn’t being fair to the guy in the song– and all of a sudden I was 18 again, feeling afraid and ashamed. And then I got angry.
“Todd Wright (who co-wrote and produced) and I managed to channel those feelings into a track that goes to a really unexpected place. It starts sweetly threatening and builds to a really satisfying, vengeful final chorus. I love the unhinged banjo and bass lines that kick in in the second verse. After we finished the track, I knew I wanted a video to match the vibe. The song and video for me are really about using art to process, to heal, and to connect with anyone else who has ever felt like they couldn’t speak up and confront their gaslighters and abusers.” – Juliet Lloyd
Track Credits:
Written by Juliet Lloyd & Todd Wright.
Video Credits: Produced by Mind in Motion.
Directed by Joshua Land and Victor Fink.
Featuring Todd Wright and Steve Quintilian.
Colleen Laffey, Zachary Buckley, Abigail Sussman – Production assistants
Shot at Lake Shawnee Abandoned Amusement Park in Rock, West Virginia.
Nefesh Mountain, “Regrets In The Rearview”
Artist: Nefesh Mountain
Hometown: New York, New York
Song: “Regrets In The Rearview”
Album: Beacons
Release Date: September 25, 2024 (single); January 2025 (album)
Label: Eden Sky Records
In Their Words: “We’ve spent the last number of years on the road, getting the band out there as much as possible, all with our now 3-year-old daughter, Willow! Needless to say, it can be hard to balance touring with writing sometimes, but when we finally sat down in early 2024 to write new material, dozens of songs just poured out of us. We spent those early months feverishly creating, composing, and refining our vision and voice for this next iteration of the band. The result of this musical alchemy is Beacons; our new double LP containing eight Americana songs with our electric band on disc one, and 10 more on the bluegrass-oriented disc two.
“We feel eternally grateful and beyond lucky to have become close with our heroes over the years and while our own band makes up much of the two discs, we also called on our friends Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Rob McCoury and Mark Schatz to bring this song to life! This particular song also marks an incredibly special first for us – our older daughter Millie is on it, beautifully singing the third part in the chorus and duetting with mom on verse four.” – Eric Lindberg
“‘Regrets In The Rearview’ kicks off the bluegrass half of Beacons and is a tune all about gratitude and living in the moment. It’s our own personal reminder to stay present and keep moving forward instead of dwelling too much on the past. It’s about finding some peace with the struggles we have, and we wanted to channel the blissful freedom we feel when we’re out there hitting the road.” – Doni Zasloff
Track Credits:
Written by Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff.
Doni Zasloff – Vocals
Eric Lindberg – Vocals, guitar
Stuart Duncan – Fiddle
Jerry Douglas – Dobro
Sam Bush – Mandolin
Rob McCoury – Banjo
Mark Schatz – Bass
Video Credits:
Shot in and around the communities surrounding Woodstock, New York.
Directed and conceptualized by Lindberg and Zasloff along with Rafael Roy & Kelin Verrette with All Solid Things.
Two Runner, “Late Dinner”
Artist: Two Runner
Hometown: Nevada City, California
Song: “Late Dinner”
Album: Late Dinner
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Label: Gar Hole Records
In Their Words: “‘Late Dinner’ is a song for all the people who have been ghosted and let down. That feeling of yearning for the perfect relationship dinner where everything feels glowy-warm amongst the candle light. I was cheated on/ghosted in a somewhat new relationship and cooked dinner that night yearning for the person to be there and wishing things were different. This song is a reminiscence about that time and hopefully relates to those who have made the ‘late dinner’ without the person ever showing up.” – Two Runner, Paige Anderson and Emilie Rose
Track Credits: Written by Paige Anderson.
Performed by Paige Anderson and Emilie Rose.
Video Credits: Filmed, recorded, mixed, and edited by Nick Futch.
Photo Credit: Nefesh Mountain by Rafael Roy & Kelin Verrette; Juliet Lloyd by Anna Haas.
