Singer-songwriter Coutney Marie Andrews shares the latest single from her forthcoming album Old Flowers, the beautifully melancholy “Burlap String.” The single is accompanied by a music video, featuring Andrews hiking a nature trail, picking flowers and laying in fields as the sun eventually sets.
The location of the music video shoot has a deep personal connection to Andrews, filmed in the Arizona-Mexican border town of Bisbee. It is a community that fosters a love for the arts, and Andrews met two of her greatest mentors there—Derrick and Amy, musicians with the moniker Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl—who have since passed away. Andrews shared a powerful statement about her relationship with the duo and how their memory inspired the music video shoot:
“More than a decade ago, I would travel from my home in Phoenix, Arizona to a quirky little historic Mexican border town in the southeastern hills of Arizona called Bisbee. In Bisbee, all the musicians play in old saloons, making a small, but honest living off of tip jars. This special place became my haven as an artist. The entire town is ripe with characters and creativity. During my visits there, I befriended a local musician couple, whose moniker was Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl. They became my DIY musician mentors, being fifteen years older than me, and showing me it was possible to pay rent off of playing music. I adored them, and we did lots of shows together throughout my early twenties. About five years ago now, they both died unexpectedly within twenty-four hours of each other. Losing them was a devastating blow. They were a large part of the Arizonan community. I still go back to Bisbee often, as it’s where my heart belongs in many ways. During one of my visits a couple years ago, I discovered a special place called Young Blood Hill. It’s a hike to a sacred and rocky peak, littered with catholic influenced memorials, shrines and crosses. It turned out to be a place where many of my personal revelations happened, so naturally I chose to shoot the album cover for Old Flowers there. Unknowingly, while shooting the album cover under the last full moon of the decade, Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl’s memorial ended up in many of the press shots. When showing them to someone in town, they remarked how sweet it was that Amy and Derrick made it into those photos. It came as a beautiful gift and surprise, for I was unaware it was their memorial at the time. With that gift, I decided to shoot my music video for ‘Burlap String’ on Young Blood Hill. By the end of the video, I am placing flowers on Derrick and Amy’s memorial, as a way of reckoning with their loss and each loss we grieve throughout our lifetime. Though this song was written for one of the great loves of my own lifetime, I wish to place flowers on heartbreak’s memorial as well.”
“Burlap String” follows the single “If I Told” ahead of the release of Old Flowers. Andrew’s previous release is the 2018 album May Your Kindness Remain.
On a broader scale, Old Flowers is Andrew’s response to the end of a nine-year relationship, where she not only allows her songwriting to be vulnerable, but also pushes herself to realize that she must be a self-realized individual in order to move on.
“Old Flowers is about heartbreak,” says Andrews in a press release. “There are a million records and songs about that, but I did not lie when writing these songs. This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can’t be with. It’s about being afraid to be vulnerable after you’ve been hurt. It’s about a woman who is alone, but okay with that, if it means truth. This was my truth this year—my nine-year relationship ended and I’m a woman alone in the world, but happy to know herself.”
Watch the music video for “Burlap String” below, and watch Courney Marie Andrews performing “May Your Kindness Remain” at Paste Studio NYC in 2018. Keep on scrolling to see the Old Flowers tracklist and album art. Old Flowers is out June 5 through Fat Possum Records.
Old Flowers Album Art:
Old Flowers Tracklist:
1. Burlap String
2. Guilty
3. If I Told
4. Together Or Alone
5. Carnival Dream
6. Old Flowers
7. Break The Spell
8. It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault
9. How You Get Hurt
10. Ships In The Night
