The young folk guitar phenom Eli Winter, a Houston native now based in Chicago, will return this summer with a new self-titled album for the esteemed Three Lobed label. He’s assembled a staggering lineup of contributors for the project including Yasmin Williams, Ryley Walker, David Grubbs, Cameron Knowler, Tyler Damon, jaimie branch (whose band Anteloper you should really check out), and more. The album’s lead single “For A Chisos Bluebonnet” puts a graceful, gorgeous full-band spin on American primitive fingerstyle guitar that fits comfortably into the lineage of the Chicago scene, though as Winter explains, it’s inspired by his childhood in Texas:

Chisos bluebonnets grow in Far West Texas. My family took road trips there when I was a kid, and I had toured there with Cameron Knowler shortly before spring 2019, when this song fell into my lap. As the song grew surer of itself, it encompassed a band. I hope the sense of looking for hope in its seeming absence comes through, and the inherent struggles of maintaining faith. In that — and, I think, the music — it’s a microcosm of the album.

I wanted to make a music video that winks at the conventions of music videos, and this song seemed like a strong vehicle to attempt that. I wanted it to show things I might do on a given day, in places I might go, without being strictly documentary, truthful, or faithful. And I wanted to make people giggle.

Watch that video, directed by Josiah Lydon, below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “For A Chisos Bluebonnet”
02 “Davening in Threes”
03 “No Fear”
04 “Brain On Ice”
05 “Dayenu”
06 “Unbecoming”

Eli Winter is out 8/19 on Three Lobed. Pre-order it here.