Sweet Petunia blossoms with “Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown”

Sweet Petunia gifts a breath of fresh air to alt-folk with their highly-anticipated debut LP Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown. Listeners explore the terrains of both Maddy Simpson and Mairead Guy through vivid lyricism that lays their life experience bare, traversing themes of identity, aging, and illness. The result is relatable yet entirely personal, raw honesty that’s palpable even when tied up in precise harmonies.

Photo by JJ Gonson

Sweet Petunia, founded in Boston eight years ago during the duo’s college years, is self-described as “unapologetically queer” and “unafraid to get loud and angry.” The intersection of gentle folk on “Wilting” and punk-inspired shouts at the end of “Heels” creates a magic unique to Sweet Petunia. It is all soundtracked to seamless banjo playing, a sort of third presence to the band. The instrument is an extension of their vocals and a tool utilized so poignantly that at times it cuts like a weapon.

Recently signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babes label, Sweet Petunia is faced with a new level of notoriety, one previously cemented through rigorous performance. Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown sounds like the welcome into their corner of the world, a home created in the city (“Nothin’ Yet”) that stretches all the way out to the country, even if only in one’s wishful thinking.

I got in touch with Maddy and Mairead to discuss their journey to this release.

---

Yellow Light Mag: Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown is your first full-length release. How does it feel to finally have it out in the world?

Sweet Petunia: It’s so exciting to finally have this record out - we’re coming up on our eighth birthday as a band (April 19th!) and we’ve been dreaming of putting out a full length album for almost as long. About half of the songs on Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown were written while we were both in college and the other half are Covid songs, so it’s almost like we can close those chapters of our lives now. 

YLM: Your harmonies melt into each other so succinctly that it almost becomes one voice. You met at Berklee nearly a decade ago. How have you developed your sound as a unit over the years?

SP: We started out at an advantage, because the first time we sang together we knew our voices complemented each other perfectly. But the real answer is that we just keep singing. We’ve put in hundreds of hours of rehearsals, performances, singing in the car, when we’re out dancing, and at karaoke! We’ve known each other and have sung together for so long, that we have just tuned our ears and voices to know the other’s.

YLM: What flair do you individually bring to create Sweet Petunia’s signature sound? 

Maddy: I listen to a lot of music from many, many genres (indie rock, americana, shoegaze, traditional roots music, world music, jazz, country blues, pop, electronic, outsider music, etc…) and really try to stay tapped into what is happening in the world of “independent music,” and that all definitely influences how I write. 

Mairead: I’ve been singing harmonies for as long as I can remember. I grew up singing with my dad who was a tenor. Nothing was ever in the right key for both of us, so I had no choice but to learn how to sing harmony. I love to listen to songs I love obsessively, whether it’s folk, punk, disco, pop, and figure out what they have in common and how I can bring those elements into my own work.

Photo by JJ Gonson

YLM: The banjo is a throughline in Sweet Petunia’s work, masterfully played.  It serves as a backbone to the project. Who are your biggest Americana influences? 

Maddy: In college I had the opportunity to study with Bruce Molsky, who is not only an immensely talented player but a music historian as well - he introduced me to some of the pioneers of old time music like Joe Thompson, Ola Belle Reed, Fred Cockerham, and Wade Ward, along with contemporaries like Jake Blount, Allison de Groot, and Rhiannon Giddens. From the minute I picked up a banjo for the first time I was just obsessed with listening and learning as many old time tunes as possible, and Bruce helped me immensely. In terms of songwriting, some of Mairead and I’s biggest Americana/roots influences would be Gillian Welch, Simon & Garfunkel, and Dolly Parton.

YLM: You’re notably breaking out of the Boston scene to expand to national tours, especially in the South. Lyrics in “Nothin’ Yet” pine for a river to wash your shoes in when all you have is a “leaky bath tub” presumably somewhere in a city. Where does the intersection of country-influenced classical folk meet the modern DIY scene you’ve made a home?

SP: There’s actually quite a bit of overlap between folk music and DIY, in terms of values and sensibilities. The overarching theme between the two is community and music that’s accessible for everyone to perform. Most of the DIY artists we’ve played with and most of the folk/americana artists we’ve played with share a stance of anti-capitalism and the importance of helping the people around you. Plus, at the end of the day, the themes people write about cross genres. Any genre you listen to you’ll find songs about love, about heartbreak, about fear, about loathing, about joy, and about sadness. These are the things that make us human, and sharing in that together, even if through different vehicles, is what keeps us all connected.

YLM: “I Wanna Run” is self-referential (Mairead gets a name drop!), and is clearly about a personal story, but it could also be applied to the very universal feeling of being stuck in your body either physically or metaphorically. This need for escapism is a motif throughout the album (wanting to leave a party with “In David’s Living Room” and the crushing weight of a depressive night in bed with “Heels”). Have you felt any release in putting these tracks into the world?

SP: Definitely - we’ve been working so hard on this album for so long, and it feels like now we can start to think about what comes next. We have tons of songs ready to be recorded, so we’re already thinking about how we want to tackle those. 

YLM: You’ve recently been signed to Righteous Babe, a label under Ani DiFranco, and opening for her upcoming tour. How did you meet, and what has your relationship with her looked like? 

SP: We were connected to Righteous Babe Records through our booking agent, Melissa Ferrick. We started working with Melissa in 2023, first with her as a mentor/manager of sorts, and around the time she became our agent she also introduced us to the RBR family. We had a few initial meetings with them which culminated in us writing a letter to Ani, explaining why we thought we’d be a good fit for the label. We talked about our music and our activism, and how inspirational it is to us that she’s been “DIY” this whole time, literally creating her own record label in the 90s to release her music instead of signing a major label deal, and centering progressive politics and community every step of the way. We emailed it off to her and eagerly waited for her reply - which, when it came, was basically her saying she’d love to have us. We then got to see her play at the Somerville Theatre last April for the first time, which totally affirmed we’d made the right choice - she’s an incredible performer and a total badass, and her fans are so dedicated to her, the community they’ve all created, and to the political causes she champions. 

YLM: Mairead, you’re quoted in The Bluegrass Situation describing “Grub” as an exploration of the trans experience. You note that you’ve played it for crowds over the years - what has their reaction been, and has the track experienced any different iterations in its development before making it onto the album? 

Mairead: “Grub” is a song that seems to have always found a way to connect with people. Obviously I wrote from the perspective of discovering my transness, but, as with all art there’s a million different ways for people to interpret it. I think the most common response we’ve gotten to that song is people crying, but I don’t think it’s always a sad thing. I think there’s a feeling of relief when you connect with a song really deeply, because it can make you feel less alone. The song has basically been the same since Maddy and I first arranged it, but I do tend to add a few more bird sounds every time we perform.

Photo by JJ Gonson

YLM: One of my favorite lyrics is from “In David’s Living Room” - “We sat in my car/ You taught me who you are/ I told you who I am/ You didn’t understand.” How do you paint such visceral scenes with simplicity? 

Maddy: When I write a song, I really try to distill whatever idea I’m trying to convey into the simplest wording possible - I do love when a songwriter uses heavy metaphor or big words, but usually I’m trying to make a song as clear and concise as I can. I think this simplicity leaves room for all types of people to apply their own meaning. Even though “In David’s Living Room” is about a really specific experience I went through, the theme of being misunderstood by somebody you love is something that most people have experienced, and I wanted to present that idea plainly.

YLM: You describe this album as touching upon your transition from adolescence to adult identity. Have you hit any notable yellow lights on the way, or are you at one now?

SP: We both graduated college in 2020, which was one of the biggest yellow lights I think most people have experienced. It was a shock to the nervous system to have spent all these years leading up to what felt like a huge and final moment, and then, instead of going out into the world, having to stay home alone and apart for so long. It definitely slowed the process of even getting to start recording this album, and for most artists it slowed down a lot of the momentum. We’re very lucky to have been able to kick things back into gear, and to finally be able to share this music with the world.

Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown is out across streaming platforms.

Catch Sweet Petunia on tour here.