When a date goes sideways, most people walk away with regret or angst or self-loathing. Stephanie Joanna walked away with a song: “Blown Away,” our Milwaukee Music Premiere.
Joanna’s languid vocals and acoustic guitar ease you into the track before it shifts into gear with a driving beat while lyrically pulling inspiration from, as she put it, “two minutes in my head on a third date on Brady Street.”
“I was listening to this guy talk, and I started putting together that he was really conventionally handsome,” she added. “Not sure why, but I never notice how stunning people are at first — probably because they have to check my boxes of music taste and philosophical pensions before I entertain any romantic vibe.
“Of course the date went downhill from there as I started to get nervous realizing he was so attractive. A word of warning not to overthink yourself into oblivion when you're supposed to be flirting.”
The song arrives ahead of Joanna’s album, “While We Circled the Sun,” which she plans to release later this summer. It’s her first solo effort outside fronting Milwaukee band LO/ST, which is most certainly still active, having played Summerfest at the end of June.
“I love having that angstier outlet and musical collaboration,” Joanna said, “but it's been a dream to release a pop project and lean into my femininity for a long time. I think LO/ST gave me my wings as an artist to finally branch out.”
In addition to hearing that exploration on 88Nine, you can see it live as Joanna plays an acoustic solo set opening for Kat & The Hurricane on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at X-Ray Arcade. You can also find her social and music-related links here.
Song credits
- Vocals engineered by Zac Hamilton and Jake Beyer
- Produced/engineered/mixed by Zac Hamilton
- Mastered by Mystery Room Mastering
- Words by Stephanie Joanna
- Music by Zac Hamilton and Stephanie Joanna
