BURR OAK – “NO TIME TO DREAM”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
Today, Chicago based 4-piece, Burr Oak shares their highly anticipated single “No Time To Dream”. This is the second single off their upcoming EP Annabelle.
Burr Oak explains “This track outlines and emphasis how Annabelle spirals down into a deep, dark depression after she gives birth to her baby. Otherwise known as a serious postpartum depression. As the lyrics go, She has “no time to read, no time to sleep, and no time to dream.” All of her time is taken up by taking care of her newborn without any help. She feels lost and hopeless. She contemplates what life would be like if she ended things. The only thing keeping her going is the will to survive for her baby.”
Chicago-based singer/songwriter Savanna Dickhut began Burr Oak not as a band but as a personal outlet. She first picked up the guitar as an aid to express her deep rooted feelings, as she told The Chicago Tribune, and she began writing the lyrics of her first single “Southsider” after a tumultuous break-up.
Songwriting gave her strength at a time when she didn’t have it. “These are really personal songs. I’m ripping pages out of my diary and saying, ‘Here it is. Here’s how I really feel,'” she said. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally breathe.”
When launching her band 5 years ago in spring of 2019, The Chicago Tribune said Dickhut shows “The promise of a songwriter sure of her voice and sound, one that is piercing and deeply relatable and authentic.” In this way, Burr Oak has always been about merging brutally honest lyrics with a sound that FLOOD Magazine said would fit alongside Adrianne Lenker and Katie Crutchfield on a fall playlist.
Prior to the pandemic, Savanna was about to tour as a live band member of Varsity and was about to embark on her own Burr Oak east coast tour after playing shows with Buck Meek (of Big Thief), Twain, among her other recent inspirations. When the pandemic canceled touring plans, Savanna redirected her focus in 2020 to finish her debut album, Late Bloomer.
She began recording the record with Nick Papaleo (member of Gia Margaret and Campdogzz) while Michael Mac finalized it at Pallet Sound (Tasha, Tenci, V.V. Lightbody, more), both offering their own touches in the Americana pastoral folk/rock sound.
While Dickhut digs deep into her own personal struggles with anxiety, depression and break- ups, she also explores acceptance. Late Bloomer‘s imagery of gardens, flowers, and blooming helps make the songwriter’s own growth come full-circle too.
Late Bloomer, released later in 2021, is a record for everyone who’s felt like they grew into themselves later in life.
Now a four-piece band with a lineup including: Tony Mest (drums), Kevin Sheppard (guitar) and Meredith Nesbitt (bass), Burr Oak is always changing and evolving, just like a burr oak tree, transforming and adapting with the seasons. Savanna also plays the bass guitar and will sometimes go ahead with the trio vibe rather than the quartet. The band has quietly been gearing up for their sophomore releaseβ a 5 song EP titled Annabelle, slated for release via Easy Does It Records near the end of summer 2024.
The first song from the EP is “Rainclouds”. A beautiful and heartbreaking track accompanied by an emotion packed video. “This is where the story begins, a very tumultuous and emotional beginning to the 5 song EP. The characters Annabelle and Adam are introduced. They met each other, became “fast friends,” then lovers and immediately rushed into things. Too fast, too soon. After a while, Annabelle felt she was giving more than she was getting, which made her feel devalued and depleted. There were also more and more frequent moments of verbal abuse happening (by Adam) which is showcased in the narrative film. He would pick fights with Annabelle over minor issues and make her feel like it was all her fault when she did nothing wrong. Even though she still loved him, being together was not worth being emotionally drained and devalued every day. A week later, after breaking up, Annabelle finds out that she is pregnant. Unfortunately, she is unable to get an abortion in a small town in Texas where she lives and does not have the money to travel elsewhere… she is stuck.”
Departing from their previous album, Late Bloomer, which showcased a more personal approach to songwriting, Savanna Dickhut (vocals/guitar/bass) and Tony Mest (drums) craft a conceptual piece centered around the character of Annabelle. Through poignant storytelling and emotive melodies, ‘Annabelle’ evokes themes of love, loss, resilience, and the transformative power of human connectionβa fictional story inspired by the chilling and very real overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Burr Oak
Annabelle EP
(Easy Does It Records)
Release Date: September 20, 2024
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