Colorado-based Folk-rock group Foxfeather worked in collaboration with Octave Records to create their debut full-length album, The Nature of Things, slated to release April 22. With intentional lyricism and inventive musicality, songwriters Carly Ricks Smith and Laura Stratton explore everything from love, betrayal, and uncertainty, to female empowerment. Pulling songs from across their catalog, the band explains that “24 Years” was written more than a decade ago while other tracks had been plucked from their live set, ripe and ready for recording. On the other hand, songs like “Too Damn Small,” “Lonely Feeling”, and the album’s title track were written during the pandemic and worked to help shape the album’s ethos. Ricks Smith and Stratton explain that by writing they were able to process “the grief and shock of the pandemic the best way they knew how” and in turn, add “meaning and importance to the full album.”
Catering to audiophiles everywhere, The Nature of Things was recorded in Direct Stream Digital (DSD), a high-resolution format of recording. “The process is more intricate and sensitive than technology we have been accustomed to working with,” the band explains. “That being said, the product is phenomenal and completely worth the extra time and care.” Taking extra time and care with every facet of the album, the record is undoubtedly well-rounded and thoughtfully weaved. By balancing light and dark, offering natural pacing and being unafraid to traverse across diverse subjects candidly, The Nature of Things is hard to forget. While “The Nature of Things” sounds like poetry, “End of My Rope” sounds like sultry honey-drenched mischief. “24 Years” serves as the album’s cautionary tale while “Fillin’ Me Up” acts as a toe-tapping radio-ready track. Whatever a listener is looking for, they can find here. Transgressing across time and topic, Foxfeather’s album creates a comprehensive look at the true nature of things.
About Foxfeather:
Foxfeather is a sultry, Alt-Americana band founded in 2013 in Boulder, CO. Beginning with a lyrical base, and bolstered by strong blues-rock instrumentals, Foxfeather’s unique sound captivates their audience. Songwriters Carly Ricks Smith and Laura Paige Stratton met in high school, connecting over their shared love of music. The pair began writing together in 2005 and have been creating material for, and leading their band for the past 7 years. Foxfeather is extremely proud of being an advocate of women in art and in business and strives to motivate and empower other women and allies through song. The band is a local staple in the Colorado Front Range and also tours nationally.
In 2014, with the help of engineer Justin Roth of Fort Collins, the group released their debut EP, Foul Moon. The six-song collection garnered local attention, with The Marquee stating that “the group is overflowing with talent” and “Carly Ricks Smith has a spectacular voice which lies somewhere between the folky soprano of a young Joni Mitchell and the jazz-heavy range of Lake Street Dive’s Rachel Price. powerful as well as delicate.”
Foxfeather returned to the studio in 2016 to record and release their self-titled and full-length album, Foxfeather. Working with producer Jagoda of New York and engineer Jay Elliott of Boulder’s own IntroVertigo Studios, the band created this dark and dusky album. The album features a collection of songs that explore the grey areas of life, whiskey, love and death.
2018 brought the release of a four song EP collection, Come and Get Me. The band again worked with Jagoda and Jay Elliott, but split the process between IntroVertigo Studios and Fox Run Studios in Boston. Smith and Stratton were able to show their versatility through this project, with the four songs showcasing the breadth of their voice and of their songwriting abilities.
Foxfeather is set to release their newest album in 2022 through PS Audio and Octave Records. The full-length album, entitled The Nature of Things, features the current band line-up and additional musicians Kate Farmer (backing vocals), Eric Moon (organ/synthesizer), Eben Grace (pedal steel/guitar) and Oliver Jacobson (fiddle). The album was recorded at PS Audio Studios in Boulder, CO, Animal Lane Studios in Lyons, CO, and The Barn in Longmont, CO. Producer extraordinaire is Eben Grace, and Engineering magicians are Jay Elliott and Gus Skinas.
In the last five years, Foxfeather has captured their audience with their unique and sultry songs,sharing stages with The Gasoline Lollipops, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Yonder Mountain String Band, Woodbelly and Andrew Bird. Their songwriting and performance is influenced by a wide variety of artists including Brandi Carlile, Bonnie Raitt, Margaret Glaspy, Ani Difranco, and Stevie Nicks. The band’s current lineup includes Carly Ricks Smith (lead vocals, writer/composer) Laura Paige Stratton (guitar, keyboard, writer/composer), Blake Smith (lead guitar), Mark Dabrowski (bass guitar), and Jay Elliott (drums and percussion). The group is proud to utilize their voice to embolden and rejoice in both the frailty and the power of humanity. With expressive instrumental tone, powerful vocal melody and harmony, and passionate performance, this band is ready to win your hearts.