RUNAWAY JUNE’s long-awaited debut album, Blue Roses is available today via Wheelhouse Records. Produced by Dann Huff, the album includes the anthemic sing along,” “Buy My Own Drinks,” which became the first Top 20 radio single by a Country female band or trio in 14 years. The gypsy-hearted trio will celebrate the album release tonight with a special performance at the Grand Ole Opry, where they will be signing albums after the show and again on July 12 as they perform on Fox & Friends as part of the show’s All-American Concert Series.
“We’ve been together for four years now, but this is our debut album,” said Mulholland. “We really harmonized as a band through songwriting and being out on the road, so I feel like, through that journey we were able to learn more about ourselves as people – as women, as performers, as artists – and figure out what we wanted to say, all of that is reflected in these songs.”
Since Naomi Cooke, Hannah Mulholland and Jennifer Wayne formed four years ago, Runaway June has become the first all-female trio in more than a decade to earn three Top 40 hits and become an ACM and CMT nominated band, been named CMT’s “Next Women of Country,” scored major tours and opening slots with some of the biggest names and icons in music (including Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood), performed on national TV including the CMA Awards, ACM Awards, CMT Awards and TODAY, and received high praise and raves from dozens of critical outlets, all while constantly digging deeper to fill out a sound that connects them to the tradition of Country music and its devoted fans.
The title track “Blue Roses” is an emotional song that highlights the depth of the album. It was co-written by Wayne and Cooke along with Caroline Cutbirth and Marcus Hummon in the wake of Cooke’s loss of a family member. It took some time before the band was able to embrace the emotions of the song fully to perform it live, but once they did, it came to symbolize the openness of music, which they feel compelled to share with their fans.
“The album has many different faces, and it really represents all the sides of who we are. Our songs are deeply Country,” added Cooke. “We aimed to make a compelling record that displays our character, personality and where our heart is. That’s why ‘Blue Roses’ is the title track. It’s a deeply personal song we wrote several years ago, but have kept for something special”
Songs like “Good, Bad & Ugly” that dive into the acceptance of being in a relationship, juxtaposed with songs like “Trouble with This Town” and “I Am Too,” that address the universal post-relationship struggles that make up the human experience, round out this first full-length outing from the trio and further cements why they are “a band that’s well on its way to Country music superstardom” (People.com) and the ascending trio “is about to blow up…” (Whiskey Riff).
Their latest single, which Music Row Magazine praises as a “runaway hit,” “Buy My Own Drinks,” co-written by all three Runaway June members along with Hillary Lindsey and Josh Kear, continues to climb the charts currently.
Runaway June is on the road through the fall, supporting seven-time Grammy winner and Pollstar’s three-time top female country touring artist Carrie Underwood on the Cry Pretty Tour 360. Sponsored by CALIA, the tour kicked off on May 1 in Greensboro, NC, and will play 55 arenas across the U.S. and Canada promoted by AEG Presents. Tickets for the concerts can be purchased here.
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