LISTEN: JM Stevens Shares “Someday I Will See You”

The Austin-based singer-songwriter’s second album, Nowhere to Land, out this Friday

April 8, 2024April 8, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2024, East Austin Recordings, Jackson Browne, JM Stevens, Nowhere to Land, Someday I Will See You, Tom Petty

West Point, Mississippi-born, Austin, TX-based singer-songwriter JM Stevens is back with his second album, Nowhere to Land.

The follow-up to his acclaimed solo debut, Invisible Lines, the new record comes out this Friday, April 12th.

“This album feels more true to me than anything I’ve done yet,” he proclaims. “It just feels right in my heart.”

Tracking with a trusted band of local cats and producing/mmixing it himself, Stevens retained a rare visceral energy on Nowhere to Land. Players include Uncle Lucius luminaries Jonny “Keys” Grossman (keyboards) and Doug Strahan (guitars); drummer George Duron (Jon Dee Graham, Roky Erickson) and bassist-about-town Dave Wesselowski.

Among the special guests are the lauded Austin folk singer BettySoo on backing vocals, Shinyribs member and longtime Robert Earl Keen bandmate Marty Muse on resonator and pedal steel, and a guest spot on the darkly wistful “Cobwebs” from fiddler/vocalist Beth Chrisman (The Carper Family, Lost Patterns).

Rock & Roll Globe has an early taste of this vulnerable 10-song set with the audio premiere of “Someday I Will See You,” one of the more uptempo numbers featured on an otherwise mellow, Jackson Browne-esque LP that looks deep into the soul of its creator.

JM Stevens Nowhere to Land, East Austin Recordings 2024

Here’s what Stevens told us about the tune:

“I was digging through my voice memos recently and ran across the first demo of this one. It was a really slow tempo…much more of a bummer jam ballad kinda thing. It didn’t have a middle 8 yet, but when I added one I guess it offered a glimmer of hope to the situation, which was wondering what it might be like if I ran into the one that things fell apart with and they were with someone else. It’s a small world and you never know who you’ll run into at the grocery store. Sometimes the mind goes to those places and it certainly ain’t no fun but, I don’t know, maybe that’s its way of healing and preparing. This is one of those tunes that plopped out pretty quick in one of those moments. I look at it now as a song about facing a potentially shitty and awkward situation but hopefully getting to a place beyond the hurt and being able to wish ‘em the best.

“When I threw it to the band on a whim for the first time at Continental Club in Austin it went to much more of a rocking groove, feeding off the energy in the room and what not. It just felt right to me like that and when I saw a video someone sent of the show I liked how it sounded, so that’s how I recorded it for this album. Because the timing was during the lockdowns and I couldn’t get everyone together in the studio I laid down the vocals and acoustic guitar to a loop. I’d been playing the song acoustic live so I didn’t wanna lose that part of it and figured it should be able to stand on its own stripped down. That’s how I approached every song on this album, really. George Duron came in and recorded drums and then Dave Wesselowski laid down bass. They both brought in unexpected but very cool parts that took things to another place. Once that foundation was solid Doug Strahan put down the electric guitar and lead, which brought a little raunch and looseness, and then Jonny Keys added piano and B3 for some propulsion and sparkle. BettySoo came in last and added harmonies that really iced the cake. She was originally coming in to sing on just one song, this not being one of them, but it was sounding so sick that she ended up singing on nine. I’m so lucky to have folks like this down to come play on my tunes. Austin is good like that.”

Listen to “Someday I Will See You” below and if you are a fan of that down-home Tom Petty-reared sound, make sure to pre-order Nowhere to Land right here.