Michaela Anne grew up bouncing around the States and abroadâfrom Washington to California to Italy, to name a few. A child of a military family, she learned to cope with her lack of roots and what she called âhaving more questions than answersâ by learning to write songs. That skill set and those songs have carried Michaela Anne farther than ever imaginable, impressing the likes of NPR, who said she âworks through weepers and hits the honky-tonks as every great country singer should,â and Noisey, who praised her most recent release as the antidote to commercial pop-country, calling her âour saving grace, our angel, the person who will help usher us into a new age.â And into the new age, she continues to push. On September 27th, Yep Roc Records will release Desert Dove, Michaela Anneâs full-length follow up to her critically-acclaimed Bright Lights and the Fame. âBy Our Design,â the albumâs first single and video, was premiered today by Rolling Stone. The song, a mid-tempo burn framed with dense violins and tremolo guitar, is a sweet ode to a carved out life together; imperfect, but adaptive and free.

Pre-order Desert Dove and/or stream âBy Our Designâ here. All Y-Store pre-orders come with a FREE sticker. Don’t forget to add a limited edition Desert Dove enamel pin to your order!
Recorded over the course of several weeks in San Clemente, CA, Desert Dove was completed âon locationâ with the help of an all-star cast. Producers Sam Outlaw and Delta Spiritâs Kelly Winrich assembled guitarist Brian Whelan (Dwight Yoakam, Jim Lauderdale), fiddler Kristin Weber (Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price), and drummers Mark Stepro (Ben Kweller, Butch Walker) and Daniel Bailey (Everest, Father John Misty) to address this batch of songs with a fresh take, not leaning too hard on traditional arrangements or instrumentation. âChild of the Wind,â the albumâs fourth track, is a great example of this; using a chunky, fuzzy electric guitar in place of what could have been a pedal steel or fiddle intro, adding sonic and tonal variables to the breadth of Michaela Anneâs range of characters and motifs. Amidst the ups and downs of Desert Dove, there is a recurring focus on the emotions that fall in between peaks and valleys. âThis record, for me, highlights the gray area, the nuance of emotional life and relationships that seems to be harder to convey in todayâs modes of communication and limited attention spans: short excerpts on Instagram or Twitter paragraphs,â says Michaela Anne. âNothing is black and white, solely good or bad. Who we are, how we live, how we love, what we desire or reject, itâs all full of contradictions and confusions. I wanted to explore that through my songs with care, depth, reality as well as light-heartedness, fun and fantasy.â
Michaela Anne also attacks most of the album with a sharp feminine perspective, dealing out wisdom, confidence, and sass with authority and maturity that is never tiresome. The easiest example of this is Michaela Anneâs light-hearted rebuttal to condescension and âmansplainingâ with âIf I Wanted Your Opinion,â but her stance drives deeper with each new song, all the way through the end of Desert Dove. âWhen I got to Nashville, I was told the ârulesâ of songwriting,â Michaela recounts. âI was informed that a woman in a country song can never be the victim, but she can also never be the perpetrator. Thatâs not real life. As a woman, sometimes youâre everything all at once, and I wanted to write about those real experiences.â
Desert Dove is also Michaela Anneâs first release as a new signee to Yep Roc Records. North Carolina-based Yep Roc announced their partnership with Michaela Anne on May 16th of this year, making her label mates with the likes of Mandolin Orange, Jim Lauderdale, Aoife OâDonovan, Chatham County Line, The Felice Brothers, Amy Helm, Tift Merritt, and Kim Richey. Michaela Anne will tour in support of this release and was recently included in the first round of artist announcements for Nashvilleâs long-running AMERICANAFEST 2019.
Michaela Anne on Tour:
6/14 – Broken Dreams – Borlange, SE
6/15 – STHLM Americana Fest – Stockholm, SE
6/16 – Hotel Cecil – KĂžbenhavn, DK
7/3 – The Roosterâs Wife – Aberdeen, NC
7/4 – Red, White & Blue Festival – Greenville, SC
7/5 – The Kraken – Chapel Hill, NC
7/6 – Festival for the Eno – Durham, NC
8/1-2 – Mile of Music – Appleton, WI
9/10-25 – Americana Music Fest – Nashville, TN