Rising American singer, songwriter and musician Ken Pomeroy will release her anticipated new album, Cruel Joke, May 16 via Rounder Records—her first in partnership with the label (pre-order/pre-save here). Ahead of the release, her new song, “Stranger,” is out today. Listen/share HERE.
A compelling solo acoustic track, “Stranger” represents a difficult period of personal growth for Pomeroy, after being inspired to confront her own emotions and struggles head on. The song follows Pomeroy’s previously released single, “Coyote,” which features special guest John Moreland, one of her songwriting heroes.
Anchored in Pomeroy’s Native Cherokee heritage, Cruel Joke is a powerful collection that showcases her raw songwriting and engaging voice. Produced by Pomeroy’s musical partner Dakota McDaniel, Gary Paczosa (John Prine, Alison Krauss, Sierra Ferrell, Katie Pruitt) and Colton Jean, the project consists of twelve deeply personal tracks (all written alone) that find Pomeroy telling stories of her own self-realizations and reflections as well as observations of the world around her.
In celebration of the new music, Pomeroy will perform select headline shows this spring including stops at Nashville’s Row One, Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right and Tulsa’s Mercury Lounge. See below for complete tour itinerary. Full details can be found at www.kenpomeroymusic.com/tour.
Reflecting on the project, Pomeroy shares, “Dakota and I began recording ‘Cicadas’ back in February of 2023. That marked the beginning of our long two-year journey and so much has happened since we started. The oldest song was written when I was 13 years old. The most recent one was written and added to the record only a few months ago, just before we finished recording. For almost two years, we dedicated almost every waking moment to working on Cruel Joke.”
An Oklahoma native, Pomeroy is already receiving widespread attention and has established herself as “a new voice reviving the age-old Native Americana sound” (Teen Vogue). To date, the 22-year-old has appeared in the hit film Twisters, in which she performed a cover of “Wall of Death,” had her song, “Cicadas,” featured in Hulu’s show, Reservation Dogs, and toured alongside artists such as Lukas Nelson, Iron & Wine, American Aquarium, John Moreland and Kaitlin Butts. A skilled guitarist and versatile session musician, she has also lent her musical abilities to projects by artists such as Wilderado, Kyle Nix of the Turnpike Troubadours, J.R. Carroll and more.
CRUEL JOKE TRACK LIST
1. Pareidolia
2. Wolf In Sheep's Clothes
3. Wrango
4. Rodeo Clown
5. Coyote (feat. John Moreland)
6. Stranger
7. Dogs Die
8. Grey Skies
9. Flannel Cowboy
10. Days Getting Darker
11. Cicadas
12. Innocent Eyes
KEN POMEROY CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
March 9—Charleston, WV—Mountain Stage
March 11-15—Austin, TX—SXSW
April 25—Norman, OK—Norman Music Festival
May 16—Nashville, TN— Row One
May 21—Brooklyn, NY —Baby’s All Right
June 7—Tulsa, OK —Mercury Lounge
June 19—Telluride, CO—Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 27—Pendleton, OR—Jackalope Jamboree
