Bandits on the Run Release New Single 'Back Home'

Ahead of a monthly residency in NYC, Bandits on the Run release the new single, “Back Home,” just in time for holiday travel playlists. The single has become an anthem for found family, especially during a chaotic and alarming chapter in the world.

“I wrote the first lyrics years ago,” says Adrian Blake Enscoe (he/they), explaining that inspiration came as their wife and bandmate Sydney Sheperd (she/her) was working for several months across the country. “I knew she was returning home and that we would both be a little different — time changes you, places change you, and, for sure, relationships change as we wend our way through evolving connections with our loved ones. I wanted to hold a little while on how a relationship becomes a home for those changes — how when you keep coming back to someone or something you love, it starts to become a part of your story, of who you are, like the rings of a tree contain the whole history of what the tree went through. When Sydney arrived, we collaborated to finish the lyrics to the song, completing the circle.” 

After a serendipitous meeting while Enscoe was busking on a subway platform, Shepherd recruited her close friend and former college classmate, Regina Strayhorn (she/her), to complete the band's sound, anchored in intricate harmonies and eclectic instrumentation.

One of those additional projects is Swept Away, the Broadway musical with songs written by The Avett Brothers. After starring in sold-out runs at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, Enscoe made their Broadway debut at the Longacre Theatre - the very stage upon which Shepherd made her own, right around the time they met.

While reviews were positive, the darkly moving production struggled to find its audience alongside the cheerier material that tends to dominate the box office during the holiday season. It was announced that Swept Away's last performance would be December 15th. Theatre-goers and creatives alike flocked to the Great White Way, purchasing every available ticket, waiting in line for the opportunity to buy rush seats, and flooding social media in protest. To everyone's delight, on December 10th, it was announced that the show would be extended through the 29th.

In many ways, the unusual musical began to feel like home - not just for the cast and crew, many of whom have been with the show since its first incarnation in 2022, but for fans who have returned to see multiple performances.

Continuing to establish themselves as one of the most multi-faceted collectives in modern indie music and theatre, Enscoe, Shepherd and Strayhorn, along with frequent collaborator Christopher Sears and Academy Award-nominated original writer Peter Hedges are also currently composing the music and lyrics for the stage musical adaptation of the novel What's Eating Gilbert Grape, in which they will also star. In addition, they are developing a new original musical set during the Yukon Gold Rush, in conjunction with Prospect Musicals, and spent much of August doing research and writing for the project in Skagway, Alaska. Last summer, Bandits on the Run participated in the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and served as instructors at Planet Bluegrass' Song School, and performed at festivals such as Mile of Music and Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, before capping off their tour with a successful homecoming show at Joe's Pub.

On January 13th, Bandits on the Run will kick off a monthly residency at Bowery Electric, occurring on the second Monday of each month and featuring special guests. 

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