My Politic - Missouri Folklore: Songs & Stories from Home (2022)

On their upcoming record Missouri Folklore: Songs & Stories From Home, My Politic dig deep into the soil of their home state, shining a light on the complexities and dichotomies of those who plant their roots within it.

Partly autobiographical, partly conceptual, every song on Missouri Folklore is set against the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains, which served as the landscapes of longtime friends and bandmates Kaston Guffey and Nick Pankey's early years. Through reflective, imagery-driven songwriting, the pair honestly examine the tangled webs we weave, often overshadowed by the doldrums of everyday life in small-town America.

"There are songs about judgment, existentialism, forgiveness, love, death, growing, and healing," Guffey says. "It's a lot of material focused on the nuance and mundanity, in some sense, of being a person."

As Guffey navigated his late 20s and early 30s, tirelessly creating while building a new life in Nashville, he began to reexamine the environments and experiences that made up his childhood. As he shook the dust off those old memories, Guffey realized just how much the passing of time and measured distance had shifted his perspectives.

That process of unpacking early personal traumas coincided with reflections on the cultural norms, stereotypes, prejudices, and hypocrisies upheld by those communities and the people within them. In many ways, the beautiful yet rugged visual landscapes of southwest Missouri echo the sharp polarities displayed by its belief systems.

The implicit expectation to stick to what's known, preserve what feels comfortable, and reject anything that falls too far from the norm often punishes anyone in search of progress, like sharp thorns hiding beneath welcoming green foliage. With Missouri Folklore, Guffey and Pankey disassemble those ideologies and mentalities to capture snapshots of our imperfect realities.

With their lead single, "Buzzards On A Power Line," My Politic bring a painfully honest, needed voice to the addiction issues that plague not only Missouri but much of rural America.

"Yeah, they hold themselves so high above me / I can hear 'em talkin' quietly / When I needed someone there to love me / They were to hungry to see / To them, I'm just another failure to look down on / Well I wish they'd leave me be / Cause I ain't dead yet."

Guffey explores that complicated topic through an even more personal lens with the stunning "Albuquerque," which recounts his sister's own struggles with heroin addiction.

But the record's focus doesn't lie solely on the darker parts of our everyday stories. Listeners are taken through a range of formative journeys with a cast of charming characters, from the search for a soulmate or something like it ("Maybe It's Love"), waiting for a storm to roll on by ("Message On The Radio"), to the trouble you can get into while in search of an adrenaline rush ("Eminence").

Missouri Folklore is a thematic shift from the band's previous record, 2020's Short-Sighted People in Power, which directly responded to the political climate that permeated every aspect of American culture during that chaotic year. That project earned acclaim from a range of outlets, including the Nashville Scene, American Songwriter, and The Alternate Root, bringing a much-deserved and long-awaited new spotlight onto their well-honed artistry.

To bring Missouri Folklore to life, Guffey and Pankey retreated to their friend Josh Washam's home studio just outside of Nashville, where they previously recorded their 2015 LP Anchor. There, they expanded on the raw, stripped-down sound of their last release with the addition of John Mailander on fiddle and mandolin, Steve Peavey on pedal steel and dobro, and Washam on bass to build out a rich, intricately-layered soundscape.

Missouri Folklore: Songs & Stories From Home marks My Politic's 10th album, but also serves as a thoughtful introduction to Guffey and Pankey's blend of sincere, candid storytelling that echoes the spirit of greats like John Prine, who the band cites as their most significant influence.

Guffey and Pankey's engaging slice-of-life storytelling, expertly-crafted characters & sibling-like harmony, shape a collection of songs that are as intimate and engaging as they are unforgettable. With Missouri Folklore, My Politic pay homage to the people and places that raised them while highlighting the work needed to cultivate a better environment for themselves and those who come next.