With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling an entire year’s worth of tour dates, The Ladles decided to turn their only remaining gig of 2020—a three-week summer residency in the quaint town of Springville, New York—into their extraordinary and spontaneous new album, Springville Sessions. Recorded over the course of four days in an historic former Baptist church, the collection mixes folk sensibilities with pop, jazz, choral, and chamber music, creating a gorgeous blend fueled by spare, acoustic instrumentation and brilliant harmonies.

Composed of fiddler/singer Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere, guitarist/singer Katie Martucci, and banjoist/singer Caroline Kuhn, The Ladles have always managed to walk the line between technical virtuosity and emotional intuition. Today the indie-folk trio premieres “Nobody Knew,” the second single from Springville Sessions.

“I wrote ‘Nobody Knew’ in April of 2020, a month into the pandemic,” said Kuhn. “The verses express the frustration that many have felt this past year—uncertainty, depression, and isolation. The choruses are a realization that, prior to the world shutting down, I had taken for granted the constant accessibility I had to places, things, and mostly, loved ones.”

“Nobody Knew” sounds like the musical Spring Awakening (in which a then-budding star Lea Michelle debuted) meets a sort of neo-Appalachia heavenly blend. It also has the harmonic stylings of a true girl group plucking and fiddling along to somber pop stylings. The syncopated notes take it to a whole new level. Check it out below!

The album is available here for purchase.