Acclaimed Americana artist Mary Bragg released today two new singles for the holiday season: a brand new original titled “Snuggle Season” and a cover of the Counting Crows’ classic “A Long December.”
“The holidays, for me, officially begin when you’re snuggled up in front of Charlie Brown, or White Christmas, with some hot chocolate, or a hot toddy,” said Bragg of “Snuggle Season.”
Of “A Long December,” she continued, “This heartbreaking classic from Counting Crows has always struck me as a brutally honest winter song, going to the places a lot of holiday songs won’t go. But even in that pause to reflect on pain, the impending new year offers some hope, that ‘maybe this year will be better than the last.'”
Last month, Bragg released a new single called “The Lonely Persistence of Time,” marking her first new original release since her critically celebrated 2019 album Violets as Camouflage. Lush with broad strokes of expressive electric guitars, Bragg’s plaintive mezzo soprano lilts and shimmers with understated longing. Of the track, Bragg stated, “Inspired by Salvador Dali’s painting ‘The Persistence of Memory,’ this song was written as a reflection of the sometimes painstakingly slow passing of time, and how, when forced to sit with your own thoughts, it can be impossible not to obsess over a broken heart trying to repair itself, asking, ‘how do you find another love that defies time?'”
Dubbed the “Americana Queen” (Noisey), Bragg has earned countless critical praise for her achingly honest and vulnerable songwriting. Her 2017 breakthrough album Lucky Strike was hailed as a “sublime distilling of Southern grit” by NPR Music. For her follow-up Violets as Camouflage, she reached deeper than ever before, bared her soul, and opened herself up to the possibility of complete and total heartbreak in order to forge a stronger and more lasting connection. The result earned overwhelming praise from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Nashville Scene, American Songwriter, PopMatters, No Depression, and NPR Music who chose it as one of the 10 Best Albums of March 2019, raving “Her clear, warm alto, reminiscent of Patsy Cline, was made for confidences, and these gorgeously crafted and executed songs touch the listener on a deep level, where insight occurs.”
Tour Dates:
12/02 – Nashville, TN @ The 5 Spot
12/03 – Nashville, TN @ The Bluebird Cafe
12/04 – Asheville, NC @ Isis Music Hall
12/05 – Duluth, GA @ Eddie Owen Presents
02/24 – Kansas City, MO @ Folk Alliance International
03/16 – Portland, ME @ One Longfellow Square
03/17 – Exeter, NH @ The Word Barn
