Dead Horses, Courtney Hartman

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Michelle Bennett

Dead Horses (left to right): Daniel Wolff and Sarah Vos.

$30 ($27 adv.).

media release: Milwaukee’s eclectic Brady Street neighborhood inspired the title for latest album by folk duo Dead Horses, Brady Street, which is out now. Blending elements of traditional roots with modern indie folk, Dead Horses are both familiar and unexpected, unflinchingly honest in their portrayal of modern American life, yet optimistic in their unshakable faith in brighter days to come. The Dead Horses have been featured extensively on streaming playlists, including Spotify's My Favorite Coffeehouse, Fresh Folk, and others.

The album is a love letter to acceptance and empathy. The reflective title track, with frontwoman Vos providing her own backing harmonies and Wolff providing the gently rolling bass line, is an ode to their colorful, free-spirited stomping grounds. “You just never know what or who you’re going to see,” Vos, songwriter, singer, and guitarist. "The song, both musically and lyrically, is representative of a coming-of-age for me personally and for Dead Horses," Vos says. "In previous records, I felt I was still searching for an anchor. In ‘Brady Street,’ I realized that the anchor is me.” 

Dead Horse's breakthrough 2018 album, My Mother the Moon, dealt with Vos's painful past. Her family lost their home when she was a teen after their expulsion from the fundamentalist Christian church where her father was a pastor. This period of homelessness and poverty, as well as Vos coming to terms with her identity as a queer woman, impacted the narrative of the album. The single “Turntable” has accrued more than 38 millions Spotify streams the album found the pair profiled in Billboard, Noisey, and independent global news publication Democracy Now, as well as being a Rolling Stone “Artist You Should Know.

"In many ways, Brady Street is an answer to My Mother the Moon," Vos explains. The latter was written and recorded in the midst of working through childhood traumas and first venturing out on my own in such an uncertain way. Brady Street takes the intimacy of nature and brings it into the city. Instead of walks through the forest, there are walks through neighborhoods, past all of the old churches and bars. Both records are filled with songs of hope and the search for beauty, as well as compassion for others — especially strangers."

While they recorded in Nashville for their last album, working with producer Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo), the pair decided to stick to their rural Wisconsin roots for the Brady Street sessions, choosing to record at Honeytone Studios in Neenah, Wisconsin on Lake Winnebego.

The second and third tracks open to reveal Dead Horses’ evolution into more intricate places rhythmically and sonically. "It’s All Good” is the first song that Dead Horses worked together on after the Covid shutdown. One of the most painful songs on the album is "Ok Kid," inspired by her brother's struggles with mental illness.

This song pulls away to the sparsely beautiful, intimate “Bird Over the Train,” which was recorded live.

"The imagery of a bird flying over a train is meant to be symbolic of the question of free will. The train is on tracks, on a course, while the bird is flying overhead, perhaps on the same course, perhaps able to change it. This question of free will has fascinated me my entire life and so I’ve even got this image tattooed on my forearm! The song also touches on escape and finding peace within yourself.," Vos says.

Vos' resilient “You Are Who You Need to Be” is a ballad meant to empower those who don’t fit into society’s gender and sexuality norms. It's an anthem of acceptance and compassion for anyone who feels "other."

The final tracks, “Under Grey Skies” and “Days Grow Longer,” introduce a different side of the band.

“The sound is more fun and lighthearted than what we usually create, unless you’re looking too hard,” Vos observes."

Dead Horses will be touring extensively for Brady Street, with more dates to be announced soon. Over the years, the road has become somewhat of a second home for Sarah and Dan.

“Connecting with people at shows and being open together breathes new life into everything,” Sarah notes. “You can go somewhere and feel like a total stranger or a lost tourist at first,” as Dan perfectly describes the sensation of performing, “but once you hit the stage, you feel like you’re part of a community.”

Check out Dead Horses at www.deadhorses.com.