Strand of Oaks assembled a special cast of collaborators, including Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, to perform the new single Ruby on Wednesday nights episode ofThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The emotive garage-rock tune comes from the new albumEraserland, which will be released on March 22nd via Dead Oceans.
An evolving indie rock outfit, Strand of Oaks is the main vehicle for the songs of Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Timothy Showalter, who also brought Bo Koster and Tom Blankenship of My Morning Jacket and Centro-matics Will Johnson for the late-night TV appearance. Led by Showalters deep vocals and jangly strumming, the song gains Fleetwood Mac-style swagger thanks to the honeyed harmonies of Shires, who also adds sweetly measured fiddle accents. Meanwhile, Isbell hangs in the background and delivers some soaring electric guitar fills.
Isbell, Koster and Blankenship, as well as additional My Morning Jacket members Carl Broemel and Patrick Hallahan, all appear onEraserland,the follow-up to 2017sHard Loveand the companion albumHarder Love, which came out last year. As part of South by Southwest, Strand of Oaks next perform at Willie Nelsons Luck Reunion in Spicewood, Texas, on March 14th and at the Scoot Inn in Austin on March 15th.