Wednesday, August 2, 2023

“Beauty is often born out of chaos and that’s certainly the case with this charming record,” says Lonesome Highway about Milly Raccoon’s latest, out now.

Hear “brilliant string playing” (Americana Highways) by “one of Americana’s best kept secrets” (Holler) that “conjures spirits through her lyrics.” (Glide).

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Milly Raccoon as photographed by Eli Meltzer

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 PLAY, POST & SHARE

 Milly Raccoon | “That Girl I Left Behind Me” (Live Acoustic w/ Lillie Mae)

[YOUTUBE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI_GmTQOnag

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Milly Raccoon’s take on Nashville — the Nashville of now where messages of spirituality and liberation are more vital than ever — is all over the upcoming Frankincense and Myrrh where Milly also delivers songs with a gauzy, dream-like, and poignant touch that evokes Norah Jones and Iris DeMent.

Milly Raccoon is available for interviews. Please contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more info.

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Milly Raccoon | In The Press


Milly Raccoon chats with Lonesome Highway about her latest album Frankincense and Myrrh, out now. Read the full conversation here.

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“Brilliant string playing.” — Americana Highways

“One of Americana’s best kept secrets.” — Holler

“Conjures spirits... a sound that is completely unique.” — Glide

“The grace of a seasoned storyteller.” — B-Side Guys

“Ethereal and mystical... A true must listen.” — York Calling

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Milly Raccoon
Frankincense and Myrrh
(S/R)
Out Now

Streaming Link:
STREAM FULL LP


Track Listing:

01. The Fine Art of Takin’ It Slow (VIDEO)
02. Walk Down The Stairs
03. Perséphone La Rousse
04. Las Abuelitas del Arcoíris
05. This Ancient Love
06. Offering To The Fae (VIDEO | STREAM)
07. That Girl I Left Behind Me (VIDEO | ACOUSTIC VIDEO | STREAM)
08. Fiddler’s Prayer
09. I’m Gonna Feed You
10. Complicated Gifts

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PLAY, POST & SHARE


Milly Raccoon | “That Girl I Left Behind Me”


[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo7855eYWnk

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/MillyRaccoon-ThatGirlILeftBehindMe

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Milly Raccoon is one of Americana’s best kept secrets,” says Holler today in its premiere of the music video for Milly’s current single “That Girl I Left Behind Me.”

“The fiddle player and singer has been eccentrically reimagining bluegrass, jazz and old timey country as feminist anthems for a world on fire ever since she first appeared on the scene. The video brings the lyric and the song’s history to life with a charmingly animated video that feels fitting for a song that sounds like Iris Dement singing one of the folk songs from Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin’s 1970s children’s animation Bagpuss.’

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

Milly Raccoon | “Offering To The Fae”
 

 [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uLmPrtjSlc

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/MillyRaccoon-OfferingToTheFae

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 “I wrote ‘Offering To The Fae’ soon after I had embarked on an intensive study of natural magic, which included making ceremonial offerings to nature spirits,” explains Milly Raccoon. “Around this time, my English grandmother died, and I returned to the town I grew up in. I wanted to write a song to honor her and her Celtic roots.”

 About the video for the songMilly says, “Instead of focusing on what the Fae folk and fairy world might look like, I focused on what the offerings look like, showing real-life altar building and scenes in the woods with my incense offering and qabalistic cross.”

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Milly Raccoon | About


Milly Raccoon stands, fiddle in hand, on the shoulders of Patsy Cline, not only as an inspiration but also for the grounded emotional support lent by Patsy’s powerful legacy.

Milly’s own take on Nashville is all over Frankincense and Myrrh, out now. The album exists in the Nashville of now where messages of spirituality and liberation are more vital than ever. Milly delivers her songs with a gauzy, dream-like, and poignant touch that is so easy on the ears (think Norah Jones or Iris DeMent) that it is easy to forget that Milly is telling us something we need to hear.

They used to beat me up for always
Makin the highest grade
Now they just pretend a smile
and turn the other way

The lyric comes from Frankincense and Myrrh’s upcoming single “That Girl I Left Behind Me,” in which Milly couples her words with a “melody that traces back to Elizabethan England when it was sung by British soldiers.”

The result is a prime example of Milly’s ability to weave the stark reality of modern life over historical toe-tappers. Milly’s catalog of influences, and experiences in general, is a vast blueprint for the music she makes today.

“I played classical violin as a kid, and I became a big fan of 90s rock and pop, early 20th-century musical theater, traditional Irish music, and zydeco.

Vast, yes. But Milly must have been going with the crowd during those all-important, trying-to-fit-in teen years, right?

“I briefly had a Grateful Dead cover band in high school.”

Milly’s eclecticism followed her to Seattle after college where she discovered the bluegrass scene.

“After my first tavern bluegrass jam, I was enchanted by the musical style and fellowship. I dove into teaching myself bluegrass fiddle, mandolin, and ukulele.”

In addition to busking regularly, Milly tested her burgeoning abilities by performing as often as possible, playing in several bands at a time.

An all-female bluegrass band. A honky tonk band. A band that played Turkish and Egyptian music for a belly dance troupe. An Irish band. A band that played the traditional music of Mexico and South America.

And many more.

“I’d play every bluegrass festival I could, sometimes traveling for days by bus to get to out-of-state gatherings,” Milly remembers.

Soon, Milly started writing her own songs.

Encouraged by the approval of the songwriting heroes in her musical community, and after losing two of her closest friends to tragedy, Milly decided that life on the road without a destination was a life that spoke to her.

“I didn’t have a home for about a year and a half and just went from town to town, making a living by busking,” she says.

Naturally, Milly became a more prolific songwriter during this time.

“Eventually it seemed like the next step was to move to Nashville where I quickly learned that instead of busking, I would have to focus on more structured realms of performance work.”

It was a tough adjustment. Milly found that her new peers saw her as “strange and woo-woo,” and that the standards of musicianship in Nashville were daunting.

This situation inspired “That Girl I Left Behind Me,” the song mentioned previously.

Last night while I lay fast asleep
Everybody I know
Reflected on my shortcomings
And switched from friend to foe

“After that, I even felt bolder about expressing my uncommon-to-Nashville bent,” Milly says.

This newfound level of confidence led Milly to Grammy®winning producer Misa Arriaga, known for work with Kasey Musgraves.

“The recording scene in Nashville really opened my eyes to a level of artistry and excellence I never imagined being a part of,” Milly says.

The product is Frankincense and Myrrh, which Milly refers to as “an ode to sacred collaborations.” The two related plants have been considered a sacred duet since before biblical times.”

The record also embodies the ancient process of alchemy.

“For example, turning lead into gold,” Milly explains. “Or turning poison into medicine.”

She continues, “What do people use heartbreak, challenges, tragedies, difficult emotions, religious experiences, taboo subjects, and other strong feelings for? Making compelling writing, painting, and music. Making an album is an alchemical process.”

With such a grounded sense of the magic of music, surely Patsy would be proud to lend Milly her shoulders.

Frankincense and Myrrh by Milly Raccoon is out now.

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Milly Raccoon | Links


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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

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