Squirrel Flower’s new album finds its heart in Chicago
<p>Squirrel Flower’s latest album, “Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going,” reads like a travelogue of vast American highways and fleeting encounters. Written during a relentless tour schedule between 2024 and 2025, these nomadic tracks by Chicago singer-songwriter Ella O’Connor Williams were born on the road — yet their sonic heart remains very much local.</p><p>Trading the heavy distortion of 2023’s “Tomorrow’s Fire” for an ethereal folk warmth, Williams tracked much of the new material live alongside a tight-knit collective of Chicago music mainstays, a group that includes Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks), Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) and <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2025/03/27/free-range-fronted-by-gifted-chicago-songwriter-sofia-jensen-is-growing-up" target="_blank" ><u>Sofia Jensen</u></a> (Free Range).</p><div class="Enhancement FormEnhancement" data-align-center> <div id="Form-newsletter-wrapper" class="Form-newsletter-wrapper" data-module data-has-background ><a class="AnchorLink" id="custom-form-c10000" name="custom-form-c10000"></a><bsp-form class="Form-newsletter" data-form-container data-has-background style="--color-form-background: #e8dbed;; 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Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓
<p>Squirrel Flower’s latest album, “Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going,” reads like a travelogue of vast American highways and fleeting encounters. Written during a relentless tour schedule between 2024 and 2025, these nomadic tracks by Chicago singer-songwriter Ella O’Connor Williams were born on the road — yet their sonic heart remains very much local.</p><p>Trading the heavy distortion of 2023’s “Tomorrow’s Fire” for an ethereal folk warmth, Williams tracked much of the new material live alongside a tight-knit collective of Chicago music mainstays, a group that includes Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks), Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) and <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2025/03/27/free-range-fronted-by-gifted-chicago-songwriter-sofia-jensen-is-growing-up" target="_blank" ><u>Sofia Jensen</u></a> (Free Range).</p><div class="Enhancement FormEnhancement" data-align-center> <div id="Form-newsletter-wrapper" class="Form-newsletter-wrapper" data-module data-has-background ><a class="AnchorLink" id="custom-form-c10000" name="custom-form-c10000"></a><bsp-form class="Form-newsletter" data-form-container data-has-background style="--color-form-background: #e8dbed;; --color-form-link: var(--link-color); --color-form-link-hover: var(--color-link-text-hover); " data-ajax-submit="true"> <div class="Form-newsletter-logo"> <picture data-crop=""> <source type="image/webp" width="840" height="555" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8d5b965/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/840x555!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a4ff6fd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/1680x1110!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1NTVweCIgd2lkdGg9Ijg0MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="840" height="555" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d21ec76/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/840x555!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1NTVweCIgd2lkdGg9Ijg0MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="GR-wordmark-RGB-DKgreen-Newsletter.png" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d21ec76/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/840x555!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aaee62a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/1680x1110!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png 2x" width="840" height="555" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d21ec76/2147483647/strip/true/crop/985x651+33+0/resize/840x555!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff5%2F2243263a48c7a1d6e81fedce4f15%2Fgr-wordmark-rgb-dkgreen-newsletter.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1NTVweCIgd2lkdGg9Ijg0MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> </div> <div class="Form-newsletter-text-wrapper"> <div class="Form-newsletter-title"> Green Room Newsletter </div> <div class="Form-newsletter-submissionSuccess"> <p><b>You’re subscribed!</b></p><p></p><p>Please check your inbox for your confirmation.</p> </div> <div class="Form-newsletter-description">Stay ahead of what’s hitting Chicago stages, galleries, museums and more with Green Room, WBEZ’s weekly arts & culture newsletter!</div> <div class="Form-newsletter-errorMessage"><p>Sorry, there was an error registering your email.</p></div> </div> <form data-ajax-endpoint="https://sfmc-subscribe.wbez.org/v1/subscription" class="Form-newsletter-form" method="POST" > <div class="Form-newsletter-item"> <div class="EmailInput"><label class="EmailInput-label"><span>Email</span> <input class="EmailInput-input" type="email" name="email" placeholder="name@email.com" required aria-required="true"> </label> </div> <button class="Button" type="submit">Sign Up </button> </div> <div class="Form-items-item"> <input type="hidden" name="acquisition_campaign" value="ARTS_Affordance"> </div> <div class="Form-newsletter-disclaimer"> <p>By subscribing, you agree with WBEZ’s <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/terms-of-use" target="_blank" >Terms of Use</a> and <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/privacy-policy" target="_blank" >Privacy Policy</a></p> </div> </form> </bsp-form> </div> </div><p>Williams captured half of the album’s tracks live at Merry Meadow, a makeshift studio in Door County, Wis., alongside co-producers Seth Engel and Jack Henry. This community spirit gave her the freedom to shift styles and find a raw, newfound trust in her own voice.</p><p>“I'd never recorded with people that lived here before,” Williams, 30, admitted. “In all of my journeying, I was, like, ‘I should try making music with people who are right in front of me instead of going somewhere else.’ It was about accepting the fact that I was still living in Chicago, even though I was traveling all the time.”</p><p>The collaborative spark grew from a cold winter songwriting retreat in Green Lake, Wis., which inspired her to break away from her traditional solo process.
Read the full report at Chicago Sun-Times ↗
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- What's the story?
- <p>Squirrel Flower’s latest album, “Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going,” reads like a travelogue of vast American highways and fleeting encounters. Written during a relentless tour schedule between 2024 and 2025, these nomadic tracks by Chicago singer-songwriter Ella O’Connor Williams were born on the road — yet their sonic heart remains very much local.</p><p>Trading the heavy distortion of 2023’s “Tomorrow’s Fire” for an ethereal folk warmth, Williams tracked much of the new material live alongside a tight-knit collective of Chicago music mainstays, a group that includes Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks), Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) and <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2025/03/27/free-range-fronted-by-gifted-chicago-songwriter-sofia-jensen-is-growing-up" target="_blank" ><u>Sofia Jensen</u></a> (Free Range).</p><div class="Enhancement FormEnhancement" data-align-center> <div id="Form-newsletter-wrapper" class="Form-newsletter-wrapper" data-module data-has-background ><a class="AnchorLink" id="custom-form-c10000" name="custom-form-c10000"></a><bsp-form class="Form-newsletter" data-form-container data-has-background style="--color-form-background: #e8dbed;; 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- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 9m ago.
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- Coverage card1 outlet1CoverageScouting report
Squirrel Flower’s new album finds its heart in Chicago
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times