The bone soaking heat of summer has arrived along with the ripening of cactus fruit and the most vibrant sunsets of the year. Summer days are a little slower (and a little sleepier). We’ve found the spaciousness of Ocie Elliott‘s music to be the perfect soundtrack these days. This season’s playlist is a particularly special one as it’s guest curated by Ocie Elliott themselves featuring some of their all-time favorites. We of course had to add a few of our favorite songs of theirs to the playlist as well!
Featured Artist: Ocie Elliott
We love that a review mentions your music as “…the aural equivalent of indigo painted skies and the first summer stars.” We feel that spaciousness in your music—the way a new moon sky can make us feel both connected and insignificant. If you were to describe your music as a season and a time of day, would you also describe it as a summer evening?
Starting off with a bang! Great question… we definitely have a soft spot for silky summer evenings with kind warmth and handsome skies. I think a lot of our songs live in this place and take on these hues. But a handful of them also belong to the quiet of a spring morning or a crisp walk in the silence of a delicate darkness.
Ocie Elliott is relatively new for both of you. How have these past few years felt? (We opened our inn in Tucson in 2019—it was a wild time to begin something new just before the pandemic struck).
We actually released our first EP in late 2017, but didn’t take it as seriously career-wise until ‘We Fall In’ came out in 2019. It was a bit disheartening to have our third EP come out a few weeks after everything shut down in 2020, and not be able to tour our new music. But we were lucky in that we had reached some sort of solid level of listenership beforehand, so we were able to expand and grow through streaming platforms. We felt very fortunate and grateful that we had this avenue to continue to blossom our career without touring.
What music do you generally have on repeat? Favorite artists?
Between the two of us, our taste palette is a bit of a smorgasbord… we have deep appreciation and respect for any artist who can make you feel something nobody else can, in any kind of form. Collectively, some of our all time favourites include Gillian Welch, Simon and Garfunkel, Fleetwood Mac, The Carter Family, John Prine and Bob Dylan.
We’re so excited to see that you’ll be touring in both Arizona and California this fall–we know our community in Joshua Tree in particular is so excited to see you play at Pappy & Harriet’s! Have you been to Joshua Tree before?
We haven’t! We are very excited to play as well.
Your partnership in life and music is beautiful. What does a typical day look like for the two of you (and if there is no typical day, what is an ideal one?).
That’s very sweet of you to say. Our days fluctuate with our recording and touring schedule, and can look quite different from each other depending on where we are in the world. But some constants are good coffees, good beer, and good company. We love being on the road, dipping into the heart of new cities and cultures, throwing some harmonies into rooms full of loving people, swimming, running, biking, drawing, and sending postcards to friends to see which ones will endure Sierra’s tiny writing.
About the New Moon Playlist
On the New Moon, the earth, moon, and sun align making us unaware of the moon’s presence in the sky. Without the visual presence and glow of the moon, other celestial bodies typically hidden now shine brighter. Our chances of seeing the sky clearly are heightened on this day, making it a day of clarity and new beginnings. Creatively it’s the perfect time to set intentions for a new cycle of dreams and goals, and ways of manifesting them.
Follow The Joshua Tree House on Spotify and be the first to hear new playlists. Last season’s New Moon Spotify Playlist featured artist Valerie June.
