Bonny Light Horseman have signed to Jagjaguwar and released their first single for the label, “When I Was Younger.” It was produced by band member Josh Kaufman and recorded live in Ireland at the century-old pub Levis Corner House. It’s a piano-fueled ballad with a hint of psychedelia and some nicely fuzzed-out guitar solos, and like Bonny Light Horseman’s last album, it pulls inspiration from traditional folk music but it’s entirely new and original.
“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,” the band says. “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…’”
The video was also filmed at Levis Corner House, and shot by Jason Lee, Donal Scannell, and Colm Rooney. Check it out below.
Bonny Light Horseman have also announced a tour, including dates with Alpha Consumer (whose J.T. Bates and Mike Lewis both play in Bonny Light Horseman’s backing band) and legendary British folk singer Bridget St John, who’s a clear forebear for the type of folk music that BLH make.
The tour hits NYC on June 18 and 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Alpha Consumer on night one and Bridget St John on night two. Tickets go on sale Friday (2/23) at 10 AM with presales beforehand. All dates are listed below.
Bonny Light Horseman — 2024 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
