Colorado-based duo Bonnie & Taylor Sims released their third and final single “The Cigarette Song” from their forthcoming self-titled debut album on September 15th.
“This was a song I wrote a few years ago in 30 minutes. It was one of those that just poured out,” Bonnie told Countrypolitan magazine At the time it felt too much like a diary entry and I was a little nervous to share or play it so I shelved it. Two years later feeling stagnant at songwriters in the round night, I flipped through my journals, found this song, saw it in a whole new light, and loved it. I have a big personality and powerful stage presses so it’s hard for me to embrace the softer, more vulnerable side of myself, but I have found there is a long of power in softness.”
Although the forthcoming album is their debut album as Bonnie and Taylor Sims, the two are RIAA Certified Gold recording artists. They have seen breakaway global success with their song “I See Red” which has over 250 Million streams with their project Everybody Loves an Outlaw, had a major label deal with Columbia, have toured the world, and graced the stages of major festivals. Amidst this wave of newfound success Bonnie and Taylor never lost touch with the thing that was most important to them: writing songs and making music with each other. With the shift the world took during the pandemic came the need for the duo to go down a different path and change directions artistically.
The two are serial creators, always striving to learn and innovate. When they are not writing songs and playing shows, the two both teach music and play in numerous other bands. Both grew up in Texas, Bonnie in a musical family who fell in love with Bluegrass at an early age and, Tyler in a house filled with the music of Texas songwriters like Robert Roy Keane, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. Bonnie is pragmatic in her approach to songwriting and enjoys structure and marking off tasks, while Taylor is moved more by "the muse" who lets his creativity wander. The two met at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas in the music program and have been partners in life and music ever since. They complement each other in the best way possible, and this idea of opposites fits perfectly into where this record sits. These songs grew out of the juxtaposition of a changing world and explore beauty and pain, hope and destruction. “The Cigarette Song” follows the release of "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," which is a portrait of their edgy-punk-rock-reality that has been bubbling right beneath the surface, and "Texas Again," which is a beautiful song about nostalgia initially written as a "Grapes of Wrath" type of story about the Sims family. The album is rounded out by seven more songs that range from a beautiful lullaby to a Texas shuffle. Bonnie & Taylor will continue to tour throughout the year including a stop in Nashville at the Americana Festival in September.
