Jason Hawk Harris Shares Ode to Grief 'Bring Out The Lillies'

Jason Hawk Harris has shared his new single “Bring Out The Lillies,” the next offering from his highly-anticipated new album Thin Places, due out October 6 via Bloodshot Records.

Featuring a tender swirl of strings and pedal steel with a deceptively sweet melody, “Bring Out The Lillies” is Harris’ personal ode to grief following the loss of his mother. The song was praised by Paste who described it as “powerful and brutal; hopeful and immensely personal.” Harris’ upcoming album Thin Places finds the Austin-based singer-songwriter shining a light on grief and healing while drawing on his extensive classical music background to create a cathartic, genre-defying body of work.

This week, Harris will be performing at AMERICANAFEST in Nashville, Tenn., including an official showcase on Friday, September 22 at Eastside Bowl. A full list of his performances at the roots music festival and conference can be found below.

"My mother died on Good Friday, and in my zombie-like grief state, I found myself at Church on Easter Sunday shortly after,” shares Harris when discussing “Bring Out The Lillies.” “I wrote this song about the isolation experienced immediately after you lose someone, when the grim reaper seems like your only friend and everyone else seems utterly oblivious to what you're going through.”

“Bring Out The Lillies” follows the hymn-like “Jordan and the Nile,” which arrived with a visually stunning music video and earned praise from The New York Times, American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, No Depression and more.

Produced by longtime collaborator Andy Freeman and written from start to finish as one continuous artistic statement, Thin Places sees Harris examining the emotional whirlwind surrounding his mother's death and the personal evolution that followed. The album draws on his extensive background in classical music to create a stirring work of beauty, pain, and catharsis, one that masterfully blurs the lines between roots, country, rockabilly, gospel and chamber folk as it reckons with forces far beyond our control.

Following Harris’ critically acclaimed 2019 Bloodshot debut Love & The Dark which garnered support from Rolling Stone, Billboard and more, what should have been a period of triumph was instead marked by a series of setbacks and heartbreak: he lost his mother, his father declared bankruptcy, his touring van was stolen and totaled, a tornado struck during the making of a follow-up LP and his label went under.

Adding a pandemic into the mix that prevented Harris from touring, this unexpected two-year hiatus allowed the Houston native to find a "thin place" to reflect on the monumental loss of a parent, and this stillness eventually called him back to music. When word got out that he was ready to get back into the studio, in a single day fans chipped in enough to fund the recordings. A few months later, a freshly re-launched Bloodshot Records came calling, ready to pay him what he was owed and re-sign him to the label with a new deal.

Chronicling this undoubtedly transformative time in Harris’ life, the songs on Thin Places are deeply personal, staring down loss, self-destruction and recovery with unflinching honesty, and the arrangements are similarly bold and cinematic. This album is a bittersweet testament to the complicated legacies we inevitably leave behind, and a profoundly moving exploration of the gray areas and liminal spaces that shape us all.

Jason Hawk Harris at AMERICANAFEST 2023 in Nashville, Tenn.

Thursday, September 21 at 12 p.m. - Texas Shingdig @ Bobby Hotel
Thursday, September 21 at 6 p.m. - Bloodshot KRS Party @ Estelle
Friday, September 22 at 9:30 p.m. - Official Showcase @ Eastside Bowl

Photo Credit: Evangeline Lee

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