Singer-songwriter Kendl Winter grew up in Arkansas but came into her own living in Olympia, Washington, and there are clear echoes of each of those regions in her music. As one half of the throwback country duo The Lowest Pair, she brings a ragged punky energy to their take on traditional roots music. And on her own, the sounds of her Southern upbringing supplies the foundation for her rough-and-tumble solo efforts.
Winter is taking a big leap forward with her forthcoming album Stumbler’s Business (out on July 20th). It’s her first release on Team Love Records after a few years working with Olympia mainstays K Records, and with it comes an expanded vision and sound that suits her twangy vocals and crystalline lyrical ideas. Today she shares with the world the first track from this new album, a humble slice of rolling thunder called “Solitude.” Here’s what she has to say about the track:
I ran with Solitude for about a year, It started on a foggy one lane highway in the Smokies in West Virginia, I took it on the rail trail in the Hudson Valley and stumbled on some more of it riverside in Waterloo, Iowa. I fumbled over the lyrics running in circles in Durham and sang them drunk at my bandmate in a motel where he gave me the line “I’ll be sober, four leaf clover, and I answered “I swear I’ll never drink again.” I took Solitude back to Olympia and rearranged and chopped off some of the edges and added some percussive elements. I sang with myself and got some friends to sing with me in Joey Seward’s garage in Shelton, WA. I spent a lot of time with Solitude before it was ready. It was great to do it together. It’s right in line with all the rest of this Stumbler’s Business.