Noeline Hofmann – “Purple Gas” & “Lightning In July (Prairie Fire)”
![](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2024/08/Hofmann-1723217526.png)
Canadian country upstart Noeline Hofmann is already a favorite of Zach Bryan’s. You might recall he and Hofmann sang a lovely duet titled “Purple Gas” (originally written by Hofmann) on Bryan’s recent project The Great American Bar Scene. Today, Hofmann has shared her solo version of the acoustic ballad, plus a fiddle-y, piano-pounding barn-burner called “Lightning In July (Prairie Fire).”
“‘Purple Gas’ was inspired by my upbringing in rural southern Alberta, Canada and time spent working on a cattle ranch in western Manitoba,” Hofmann says. “The imagery is derived from lived experiences in those settings. It’s a song about resilience and the rural attitude through hardships out of one’s control.”
Meanwhile, of “Lightning In July,” she adds: “It’s a cheeky self-introduction — a playful, all attitude, can’t stop won’t stop, walk the walk, talk the talk fight song. It’s inspired by a feeling of walking around with a loaded gun — so to speak — and being underestimated or overlooked. I wrote it with the intent to add a fun traditional country barnburner to the setlist before going on tour.”
Listen to Hofmann’s “Purple Gas” and “Lightning In July (Prairie Fire)” below.
TOUR DATES:
08/10 — Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival
08/23 — Saint-Agapit, QC @ Country Festival Lotbiniere
09/28 — Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater*
09/29 — Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater*
10/01 — Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater*
10/06 – Cheyenne, WY @ Cheyenne Civic Center*
10/08 — Waukee, IA @ Vibrant Music Hall*
10/09 — Columbia, MO @ Central Bank Downtown Live*
10/10 — St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre*
10/11 — Franklin, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater*
10/24 — Oxford, MS @ The Lyric#
10/25 — Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company#
11/12 — Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s#
11/13 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre#
11/15 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE#
11/16 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre#
*with Colter Wall
#with Wyatt Flores