Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Bonny Light Horseman - "Sweetbread"

Photo by D. James Goodwin

The supergroup consisting of Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman are just consistently releasing some of the best folk rock out there today. Bonny Light Horseman's latest single, "Sweetbread," is simply a perfect song. It's mainstream modern folk rock that just has that completely unique flair to it that helps set it apart from most of the other artists we cover here. Despite being purely a modern take on the traditional folk song, "Sweetbread" does have an indie rock vibe to it. It almost sounds as if Built to Spill decided to make a folk song. If you weren't excited for the upcoming album already, this is going to solidify it for you.

Josh Kaufman says of the new song:

We cut ‘Sweetbread’ late in the evening at Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond studio last summer. Kinda like starting to watch a movie too late, everyone was getting a little sleepy-eyed. Anaïs went off to bed with her then-one-year-old while some of us kept jamming on the main riff for a while, unsure of what we were moving towards. It got really, really late and the tune we started playing had abstracted itself to an unrecognizable shape as we stretched and improvised through the form. The next morning listening back I thought this is SO groovy and different than anything we’d made up to that point, but very much still sounded like us. We were giddy to play it for Anaïs and have her take a pass singing over it. She sang the verses down over the improvised jam and it really felt magical to us. It’s very rare for this band to use a song without a live vocal, however it became the path forward for ‘Sweetbread.’ It’s a funny thing, texturally and energetically, quite a leap from the ethereal/oceany tones and vibes that tend to typify our sound, and on the other hand, since it’s drawing shape and inspiration from older folk songs like ‘Jack Of Diamonds’ and ‘Rye Whiskey,’ it’s very much in the wheelhouse of songs from our first LP… kinda like a sister song to 'Green Rocky Road' or something. It’s adventure music and it’s elastic and it pays no mind as it jumps out of the speakers.

You can listen to "Sweetbread" below. Rolling Golden Holy is due out October 7 on 37d03d Records. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Bonny Light Horseman, check out their website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.


9/17 – Easthampton, VA – Arcadia Folk Festival

9/30 – Sonoma, CA – Sonoma Winery Barn at Gundlach Bundschu

10/01 – San Francisco, CA – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

10/02 – San Francisco, CA – Palace of Fine Arts

10/04 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater 

10/05 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theater

10/07 – Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre

10/08 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room

10/09 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room

12/1-4 – Key West, FL – COAST Is Clear Festival

12/06 – Nashville, TN – Basement East

12/07 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West

12/08 – Asheville, NC – Masonic Lodge Theatre

12/09 – Durham, NC – MotorCo Music Hall

12/10 – Washington, DC – Howard Theatre 

12/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts

12/13 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair

12/14 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

12/16 – Westerly, RI – United Theatre

12/17 – Portland, ME – Portland House of Music

12/18 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground

02/04/23 – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club

02/05/23 – Glasgow – St. Luke's (Celtic Connection)

02/06/23 – Manchester – Band On The Wall

02/07/23 – London – Union Chapel

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