This record began in the most unplanned way; a late-night guitar pass-around at a party in upstate New York. One song, Since You Asked, caught producer Michael Moroney’s ear. Within weeks, what started as a rough iPhone demo grew into a project, recorded over two years across New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Italy.

The album brings together an extraordinary cast: John Beland (Linda Ronstadt, Flying Burrito Brothers), Daniel Addison (Dwight Yoakam), Rhett Johnson’s pedal steel, Simon Mills’ Hammond B3, Presley Sullivan’s violin that threads through the songs with quiet force, and John Johnson — on backing vocals, piano, and organ, serving as musical director in the southern sessions, a role he once held for Kris Kristofferson. Add background harmonies from Allison Davy, steady drums from George Sandler, nylon guitar from Simo Poliedric (Coldplay), and the layered touch of Michael Moroney himself — bass, guitars, synths, and production shaped by work with John Cale, Peter Gabriel, and Shawn Colvin.

At the center is songwriter Cole Daly, whose voice carries these songs with a plainspoken intimacy. Written by Frank Cuthbert (©2020), the tracks move between folk, Americana, and modern roots music — anchored by craft, lifted by collaboration, and given room to breathe.

The result is a record that feels both lived-in and unexpected: a collection born from chance, built on trust, and finished with the kind of depth only possible when musicians from different corners come together for the songs.