Mairead Guy (they/them) and Maddy Simpson (she/her) crossed paths during their senior year at Berklee College of Music in 2018. When they joined their school's 21st Century String Band ensemble, their classmates were convinced the duo must be related because their voices interwove so naturally. But it wasn't until a fateful day during a rehearsal delay that, with the unexpected free time, Guy and Simpson struck up a conversation and realized they shared a love for Simon & Garfunkel and Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings. After meeting up for casual jam sessions a couple of times, Simpson and Guy formed their own project, Sweet Petunia.
Since then, they have been nominated twice by the Boston Music Awards for Best Folk Act and have performed at music festivals including Between Days and Nice, a Fest. Sweet Petunia is now introducing themselves to a wider audience with their debut LP, Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown, out on March 13th via Righteous Babe Records. Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown is a collection of songs written during a period of growing pains, reflecting on breakups, outgrown friendships, tumultuous cycles that needed to be broken, and self-discovery. Its title is a play on Flatt & Scruggs' classic bluegrass tune, as the album is an homage to the traditional folk that shaped the duo, while also drawing on their local punk and DIY scene to give it a contemporary twist.
Many of the songs on this debut LP were written in the duo's early days, with their sonic iterations evolving over time. While the stories behind them don't feel as urgent or heavy as they did at the time, the duo relishes the wistful energy from those emotions during a pivotal moment, one that marked the transition from their adolescence to forging their identities as adults. You can feel the sheer emotion in the duo's vocals in “Puke,” a solemn, acoustic track about needing parental comfort while afflicted with a mysterious illness, before eventually figuring out that the way back to health was to cut out a toxic relationship. Meanwhile, “Good Part” is one of the most sonically ambitious tracks for the pair, with intricate banjo plucking and the introduction of shoegaze elements to capture the hazy emotions of being disappointed by someone who's supposed to be your rock. But even pared-down moments shine just as much as the more expansive ones, like “Grub,” a heart-tugging banjo tune about Guy working through their gender dysphoria. Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown hooks you with its relatable lyrics, riveting arrangements, and mesmerizing duets, sticking with you long after the first listen.
While Guy and Simpson are the perfect musical match, they couldn't have come from more different musical backgrounds. Guy grew up in a musical family, with parents who are part of the Richmond, Virginia-based Irish folk revue Uisce Beatha. Their childhood was a crash course in bluegrass and roots music, and their involvement in their church's choir sparked their interest in harmony singing beyond folk. From a young age, they knew that they were destined to follow their family's footsteps and become a musician. Meanwhile, Simpson didn't grow up with entertainers. Instead, she became enamored with the idea of performing after, one night, as a young child, she couldn't sleep and joined her parents in watching American Idol. She was enthralled by the idea of being onstage and having a crowd go wild for her singing. From then on, she dedicated her life to music, taking violin lessons and learning to sing professionally. When their paths converged at Berklee, they realized that, together, they bring out the best in each other—a quality you can hear throughout Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown.
