Sam Bowlds Releases Honky Tonkin’ New Single, “Stumblin’ Into Another One”

Since the release of her debut EP, My Own, in March of 2020, Sam Bowlds has largely made a name for herself with deep, heartfelt, introspective ballads of love and love lost, and as the clingers to sad ‘ol songs that we are, we’ve enjoyed that.

However, as much as we cling to them, we’re always ready to scoot a boot as well, and thankfully, with the release of her newest single “Stumblin’ Into Another One,” Bowlds has offered a dancehall-ready tune sure to fill up the floor and get folks moving, all the while, releasing what may be her best song to date.

Though she’s shown herself to be comfortable with her ballads, Bowlds says she feels equally comfortable with the honky tonk sound she has introduced with “Stumblin’ Into Another One.”

“I’ve been working behind the scenes on some rebranding and marketing, so all I’ll say for now is as we do so, I’m definitely leaning into more of that traditional, western country vibe,” says Bowlds. “I love my moving ballads, but I also love the joy of honky-tonk sounds where people feel free to move and dance. I think they’re equally meaningful in different ways.”

Bowlds says her new single was spawned from a writing session with two longtime collaborators, the suggestion of a honky tonkin’ tune and a title she had been carrying.

“‘Stumblin’’ was written with Andy Ellison (steel player) and Andrew King (producer), and I think it may have been the first time we all sat down together to write, despite many studio sessions together. Andrew knew the collection of songs I’d already had, so he was the one who suggested a honky-tonk song,” says Bowlds. “I often write down song titles as a place to start, and this was one I had been sitting on, so we just ran with the concept of bar hopping, but we all know I’m one to go against the grain [laughs], so with that, I didn’t want to write another, ‘I’m single, drinking’ song because that’s never really been my thing. So we all settled on the idea of writing from the perspective of a couple doing that together and how it just never gets old even in the same old settings. Verse one is more focused on the bar scene leading into verse two, where it twists to stumbling into another slow or intimate morning together.”

“Stumblin’” follows the release of June’s “Old & Grey,” a song that quickly became the California native’s top-streamed song on Spotify, something Bowlds credits to the relatability of the song’s lyrics.

“I think it’s just such a beautiful song, lyrically and instrumentally. The storyline is probably relatable to many that have left their hometown in hopes of pursuing big dreams but often find comfort in the familiar things or places that going home has to offer,” says Bowlds. “Instrumentally, it has such a cool dynamic that Andy Ellison created. I am a huge fan of his steel and mandolin work on this one, and sometimes what the instruments create alone is all it takes to really pull a listener in. That’s often what captures me ahead of hearing any lyrics.”

“Old & Grey” also provided Bowlds with the opportunity to see herself on a Spotify editorial playlist for the first time, something she admits she was surprised by and remains thankful for.

“It was truly a huge shock because most people I talk to in the industry often say that you have to have that Spotify connection to even get on a playlist’s radar, and that’s kind of the one thing I don’t have in my back pocket. For those that don’t know, when an artist prepares to release their next project through their distributor, they’re prompted through Spotify For Artists to pitch a song to an editorial playlist, and I was getting somewhat discouraged of doing that knowing I don’t have the connection anyways, so I hadn’t planned to go through the process of pitching this one,” says Bowlds. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for any listening ear, playlist or not, but the process of building up a release is a lot of work and marketing, especially for how consistently I was working on releasing songs, so I got to that point of, ‘why pitch it?’ Well, a day or so before it came out, I just wondered, ‘why the hell not pitch it?’ so I did, and about a week or two later, it landed on Fresh Finds: Country, a Spotify editorial playlist. Still not really sure how, but I’m just thankful it did, and I’m thankful for the new listeners and friends that came out of that. It was pretty surreal to me because I’m just an independent artist working from the ground up, so anything like that is super exciting and encouraging. Watching stream counts rise and people connecting with the song was such a joyful feeling.”

While “Stumblin’” is the last in Bowlds latest string of releases, she says she’s remained hard at work with writing, continuing to hone in on her sound and preparing her next string of releases.

“Since I’ve been working on my brand, it’ll be a couple months before my next string of releases, but once everything is squared away with branding, there’ll be lots more music to come!” says Bowlds. “I’ve been writing every day with some amazing writers and fellow artists, and I’ve got new material that I’m beyond eager to release very soon! Stay tuned through socials to be the first to hear.”