Last month, rising Virginia trio Palmyra announced that their debut album Restless will arrive on March 28th via Oh Boy Records. The band returns with the standout track – an on-the-road rambler titled “Arizona.” The track explores the conflict between the pleasure and loneliness one feels on a journey. Of the song, Teddy shares, “Arizona was a moment of joy in a dark, uncertain period of my life. I was roadtripping with my brother through the southwest, driving through national parks and living off of energy drinks, cigarettes, and hot dogs. The car was filled with sand from having to break down our tent during a sandstorm, and it reeked of lighter fluid (my brother left it open and it drenched the backseat). It was a beautiful, brief escape from facing reality, and I never wanted it to end.” 

Peppered with electric bass and organ, the song journeys into retro soundscapes fitting for a desert road trip. Mānoa adds, “It has become a core live song for us and one that I think will exist for Palmyra forever. I’m so glad we didn’t give up on it after the demo.” 

The live performance video is the band in their happiest and purest form— camped in a tent with just themselves and a stripped-back setup, letting their voices steal the show. The video was filmed in a friend’s backyard in Richmond, Virginia.

Moments of struggle, solidarity, and self-growth frame Restless, Palmyra’s debut album for Oh Boy Records and an unqualified ringer for anyone who loves the space where the roar of indie rock collides with raw folk music. Supported by a cadre of collaborators befriended on the road, Palmyra renders these songs about growing up and accepting oneself with alternating affability and aggression, these changing moods suited to changing circumstances and days.

During the last three years, Palmyra—for now, a trio with upright bass, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin or the mandocello, and lots of banjo—have cut a series of EPs and singles, often on the cheap and on the fly. When they realized the time had come to concentrate on a proper album, they recognized that they had a good problem: There were simply too many songs. Bell, Chipouras, and Landon are, after all, all songwriters, and Palmyra’s tunes take shape when one member brings a draft to the rest of the band to finish. 

Palmyra straddles at least two musical worlds. They are, on one hand, a band from the South that plays traditional instruments and indeed once lived in the old-time locus of Floyd, Virginia. Comparisons to and a kinship with The Avett Brothers and even Old Crow Medicine Show are inevitable. On the other hand, Palmyra writes about suicide, gender dysphoria and identity, and an epidemic of financial survival in songs that flirt with soul, post-rock, and even emo; the South, too, is the place of My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Cat Power, and, now, Palmyra. 

Where they fall on this divide doesn’t really matter. The 10 tracks of Restless are compulsive and immediate, true-to-life testimonials from three very good songwriters figuring out existence in real-time in verse. These are songs to be sung or shouted out loud, to be coveted as anthems as we try to make our own way from whatever shape we’re in toward whatever shape we hope to become.

Palmyra will play a string of shows in Virginia this February before they officially kick off their headline tour this March 27th in Pittsburgh, PA and wrap May 8th in Amherst, MA. Highlights include The Basement in Nashville, TN on April 3rd, DC9 in Washington DC on April 29th and The Mercury Lounge in NYC on May 1st. They’ll play an album release show at The Jefferson Theatre in Charlottesville, VA on the album’s release day, March 28th. The band will also play at Iron Blossom Music Festival alongside artists like Vampire Weekend, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and The Lumineers this September. Find tickets here: https://www.palmyratheband.com/

Palmyra Tour Dates

February 20 – The Vault – Tysons, VA

February 21 – Sipe Theatre – Bridgewater, VA

February 22 – Grand Caverns – Grottoes, VA

March 9 –  Continuum Art – Hendersonville, NC

March 21 – The Harvester – Rocky Mount, VA

March 27 – Crafthouse Stage & Grill – Pittsburgh, PA

March 28 – Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA

March 29 – Cat’s Cradle Back Room – Carrboro, NC

March 30 – Live at Ted’s – Wilmington, NC

April 1 – Charleston Pour House – Charleston, SC

April 2 – Georgia Theater Rooftop – Athens, GA

April 3 – The Basement – Nashville, TN

April 4 – Open Chord – Knoxville, TN

April 5 – Center Stage Vinyl – Atlanta, GA

April 6 – Doodad Farm – Greensboro, NC

April 24 – The Palm Room – Wrightsville Beach, NC

April 25 – Petra’s – Charlotte, NC

April 27 – Eulogy – Asheville, NC

April 29 – DC9 Nightclub – Washington, DC

April 30 – MilkBoy – Philadelphia, PA

May 1 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY

May 2 – Middle East Upstairs – Cambridge, MA

May 3 – High Ground Lounge – South Burlington, VT

May 4 – Billsville House Concert – Manchester, VT

May 5 – 9th Ward – Buffalo, NY

May 6 – Fan Club Collective – Ithaca, NY

May 8 – The Drake – Amherst, MA

September 21 – Richmond, VA – Iron Blossom Music Festival

Photo Courtesy: Rett Rogers