Bonny Light Horseman–the trio of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman–have signed to Jagjaguwar and have released their debut single for the label, the cathartic and resonant “When I Was Younger.” The band also announced a headlining U.S. tour, including two nights at NYC’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, as well as summer festival performances at Bonnaroo Music & Arts, Red Wing Roots, and more. A full itinerary is listed below and tickets go on-sale February 23rd at 10am local time.
Produced by Kaufman and recorded at Levis (pronounced: “leh-viss”) Corner House–a century-old Irish watering hole in Ballydehob, County Cork–“When I Was Younger” is out now alongside a video filmed on location and shot by Jason Lee, Donal Scannell, and Colm Rooney. Mitchell and Johnson’s honeyed voices meet and transform into a two-headed beast formed from pent-up emotion as the lyrics reckon with motherhood, maturation, and all of the things polite society doesn’t say out loud. “There’s a whole genre of trad songs with this ‘domestic frustration’ sentiment, like ‘Single Girl Married Girl,’ ‘Wish I Was A Single Girl Again,’ etc. This song is inspired by those, but we wanted to write it as a duet, to tell two sides of a story,” says the band. “We recorded it live, so you can hear coughing, cars, and the whole audience did that wordless wail with us in the middle. It felt like a primal collective shake-off. Next morning we were collecting our things from the pub and the owner Joe was out front in flip-flops sweeping up the cigs from the street singing, ‘When I was younger, I used to dress fancy…’”
Bonny Light Horseman Tour Dates:
06/11 – Norfolk, VA – Virginia Arts Festival
6/12 – Nelsonville OH – Stuart’s Opera House *
6/13 – Chicago IL – Thalia Hall *
6/14 – Nashville TN – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
6/15 – Asheville NC – Orange Peel *
6/16 – Washington DC – Howard Theatre *
6/18 – Brooklyn NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *
6/19 – Brooklyn NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
6/20 – Philadelphia PA – Union Transfer *
6/21 – Mount Solon VA – Red Wing Roots Festival
6/22 – Northampton MA – Green River Music Festival
6/23 – Cambridge MA – The Sinclair ^
8/10 – Lyons CO – Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
* w/ Alpha Consumer
^ w/ Bridget St John
