MUSIC FILM FASHION BLOG: I’m With Her - Find My Way to You (Official Music Video)

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I’M WITH HER

Wild and Clear and Blue out May 9th via Rounder Records

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Beloved folk trio I’m With Her – comprised of multi-GRAMMY winners (7 wins, 31 nominations collectively) Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins — will return this spring with a stunning new record entitled Wild and Clear and Blue, out on May 9th via Rounder Records. They recently shared “Ancient Light,” the album’s lead single, and today they return with another preview of the record with “Find My Way to You.” Showcasing the unshakable determination found throughout Wild and Clear and Blue, “Find My Way to You” is a bluegrass-leaning number propelled by the group’s exuberant vocal work. The breakneck-paced track was partly inspired by a rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Open All Night” performed by O’Donovan and Jarosz at Newport Folk Festival in 2023. “After we covered the Springsteen song, Watkins said how she wished I’m With Her had a moment like that—that same kind of forceful duet singing,” O’Donovan recalls. “Over time the chorus to ‘Find My Way to You’ became exactly that, which is a good example of how the three of us send these little psychic messages to each other and it somehow turns into a song.”

Watch Video here for ‘Find My Way to You’

Recorded in New York at both The Outlier Inn in the Catskills and The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, Wild and Clear and Blue was produced by Josh Kaufman—a member of Bonny Light Horseman and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger and producer who’s worked with Bob Weir and The National— and mixed by D. James Goodwin. The result is the long-awaited sophomore album from a close-knit alliance of highly esteemed musicians, each graced with a deep understanding of folk tradition and unbridled passion for expanding its possibilities. The group’s first album led to a GRAMMY nomination, wins at the Americana Music Association Awards and International Folk Music Awards, #1s on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums and Folk Albums charts (where it remained charting for 7 months), and much more. Now, on their forthcoming record, I’m With Her bring their luminous harmonies to a soul-searching body of work about reaching into the past, navigating a chaotic present, and bravely moving forward into the unknown.

(Album Artwork)

Tracklisting

01. Ancient Light

02. Wild and Clear and Blue

03. Sisters of the Night Watch

04. Different Rocks, Different Hills

05. Standing on the Fault Line

06. Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive)

07. Only Daughter

08. Find My Way to You

09. Strawberry Moonrise

10. Year After Year

11. Rhododendron

More on I’m With Her and Wild and Clear and Blue:

Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan first discovered their near-telepathic chemistry during an impromptu performance at the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival and quickly co-founded I’m With Her. With the group’s formation, the trio introduced an essential new force into the world of folk music. Since delivering their critically lauded debut See You Around and standalone singles like “Call My Name” (winner of the 2020 Grammy for Best American Roots Song), the trio have routinely taken time out from their individual careers to dream up songs together—eventually arriving at a new album exploring themes of ancestry, lineage, and the collective human experience.

In a departure from the stripped-back intimacy of See You Around—a 2018 release that turned up on best-of-the-year lists from the likes of the New York Times—Wild and Clear and Blue centers on a far more elaborate sound informed by the band’s extensive touring and acclaimed performances at festivals around the globe. “Because we’ve played together so much at this point, we have a much stronger sense of what we’re capable of creating together,” says Jarosz. “We wanted to be open to anything on this record, and give ourselves more space for the solo sections to really breathe.” Produced by Josh Kaufman, the album finds each member handling a variety of instruments (mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, and banjo for Jarosz; guitar and piano for O’Donovan; fiddle, cello, and organ for Watkins), instilling a potent vitality into every track. “Sometimes in the studio songs end up losing a bit of their sparkle, but with this record everything kept tumbling forward in a very natural, positive way,” says Watkins. Also featuring drummer JT Bates (Andrew Bird, Taylor Swift) as well as Kaufman’s contributions on everything from lap steel to Wurlitzer, Wild and Clear and Blue ultimately adds a bold new urgency to I’m With Her’s delicate entangling of lived-in narrative and fable-like storytelling.

Recorded at two separate New York studios (The Outlier Inn in the Catskills and The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck), Wild and Clear and Blue takes its title from a song written after the passing of two of their most beloved musical forebears, Nanci Griffith and John Prine. “When I was nine my mom took me to see Nanci Griffith and I sent a note backstage requesting ‘Ford Econoline,’ and she played it at the show,” says O’Donovan. “We wrote ‘Wild and Clear and Blue’ thinking about growing up so in love with music and then actually making music ourselves—it’s very specific to our own lives, but I think there’s something universal about having those childhood memories tied up in the music your parents played for you.” The first song written for Wild and Clear and Blue, the exquisitely wistful track soon catalyzed I’m With Her’s album-wide reflection on generational bonds and self-realization. “So much of this record is about connecting with your past and figuring out what you want for your future, finding yourself and finding the people you love,” says Watkins. “It’s a journey that everybody takes, and this is our way of singing through it.”

All multi-Grammy-winners with deep roots in the folk scene, Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan founded I’m With Her in 2014. Over the years, their profound sense of kinship has only intensified, often allowing for a certain charmed fluidity in the creative process. “There were so many wonderful moments in the studio where we noticed commonalities between the songs that we sometimes hadn’t intended, either melodically or harmonically or even lyrically, with a line in one song almost responding to another song,” says Watkins. “It all feels very cyclical in a way that adds another dimension to the meaning of the songs, and shows the sincerity of feeling we all brought to the album.”

With Jarosz, O’Donovan, and Watkins sharing writing credits on all 11 songs, Wild and Clear and Blue owes much of its beauty and power to the generosity of spirit embraced by each member. “When we write together it’s almost like we’re a three-headed creature—there’s never any need to take ownership of ideas, and always an ease of letting go when something isn’t working,” says O’Donovan. And for I’m With Her, that sense of musical communion has proven endlessly rewarding on multiple levels. “One of my favorite things about being in this band is actually listening to my bandmates,” says Watkins. “I’m such a fan of these two people, and it’s a huge pleasure to listen back to this album and remember how amazing it is that I got to make it with them.”

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