Nate Ostrander Gets Ready to ‘Ramble’

New full-length out this year

January 29, 2026January 31, 2026 Ron Hart 1 Comment 2026, Donnie Emerson, Eastern Washington, Joe Emerson, Nate Ostrander, Ramble

Nate Ostrander (Image: Brittney Betterman)

Based in Eastern Washington, Nate Ostrander comes from a family of horse folks and musicians.

So it should come as no surprise that he lives in the duality of his heritage in 2026, training horses by day as proprietor of his own company Two Eyes Horsemanship and, once out of the stables, honing his career as one of the Pacific Northwest’s most underrated voices at the intersection of blue-eyed soul and heady psychedelia.

His latest single “Ramble” was crafted in collaboration with friend, mentor and former cult teen idol Donnie Emerson, best known for his 1979 album Dreamin’ Wild with his brother Joe and their minor soft-rock hit “Baby.” Produced by Ostrander and engineered by Emerson, the song — which Rock & Roll Globe is proud to share with you this evening — is reminiscent of the heady psych-folk of John Martyn but in the rustic cool context of John Denver at his most cerebral. Ostrander himself plays most of the instruments, while Ben Rose adds a second layer of guitar with Emerson on keys, Jim Elvidge on percussion and Nancy Emerson on background vocals.

Cover art for “Ramble.” (Image: Nate Ostrander)

Here’s what Nate had to say about the song when we asked him about how it was conceived.

“I wrote the song “Ramble” sometime back in the winter of 2011 I think,” he explains. “I was in a pretty difficult relationship at the time that followed a few other difficult relationships. So, there was definitely a pattern there.

“I got home late on one of those difficult nights and went straight to my guitar to just play off some steam. What was seemingly just some tinkering around, very quickly changed into a download, or vision or something, because it hit me like a ton of bricks! The chords, the melody, the lyrics, all instantly came to me.

“I couldn’t write fast enough to catch up to the lyrics running in my mind. The entire song was written in about 10, very fast and furious, minutes.

“It was showing me what a real, loyal, unwavering, unconditional loving relationship could be. It showed me exactly what I had been longing for… the relationship I was destined to have.

“It’s about being so in love with each other, that everything you do is with the purpose of being strong together, always becoming even stronger together. And while there will be hard times, ups and downs, lefts and rights, time apart for personal growth and strengthening, and just a straight up lack of rainbows and butterflies, the path will always lead back to one another, stronger, better and clearer.

“It tells the story of not knowing where life will take us on this no-name path, but in the end, no matter what, we know where we stand together.

“The crux of the matter, however, is that it showed me that I didn’t and couldn’t have that relationship, at that time, because in order to find her, the one in the song, I had to find myself first. It took me a while to figure that out!

“Most people, when they hear this song, think it’s about my wife, and my relationship with her, because we have this kind of amazing relationship described in the song! But, it’s about the relationship I wanted, and was shown I could have back then. So… technically, I guess it is about us… just written 10 years before we happened. I found myself, so I was finally able to find her.”

Listen to “Ramble” below and expect more music from Nate Ostrander in 2026.