Runaway Sky came out of a chance meeting at a Fort Worth musicians mixer in 2022, when singer-songwriters Taylor LaCourse and Simone Nicole met each other for the first time.
“We were both like, ‘We should know each other! Let’s write songs!’ ” Nicole said.
Now, four years later, the two are about to release their debut album, an eight-song LP that arose from the contemporaneous collapse of their then-recent romantic entanglements.
Produced by Timothy “Tim Lightyear” Allen at Cosmic Mama Studios in Royse City, the album gets its name from a moment in the studio when Nicole and LaCourse were mulling over what to call the long-player and Allen threw out his own observation.
Nicole recalled, “Tim was like, ‘Y’all have all these damn feelings all over this. Why don’t you just call it that?’ ”
And so the title stuck.
“We were both getting out of relationships when we were writing these songs,” said LaCourse, a rueful chuckle capping the ellipsis in her tone.
In the way that their musical partnership formed over a chance meeting at a Hear Fort Worth event, Nicole said that the songs came out of then-recent individual experiences, “what we were both going through but also thinking about past mistakes.”
She and LaCourse commiserated as they collaborated, and in the recordings, every time LaCourse joins her voice to Nicole’s on Damn Feelings, you can hear their bond of friendship in their harmonies and heartache.
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Yet for all the hurt hinted at in Damn Feelings, there’s also the personal growth that follows, as well as the anticipation and joy found in falling for someone new shining over the horizon. “Sweet Things,” released in June as the second single from the album (following the March release of lead single “Waste My Time”), stokes the flame of a new romantic prospect with the gals singing, “You talk too damn much, but it’s OK / I’m tired of talking anyway / I like the way you sound / Especially when you’re saying sweet things / To me.”
Then Allen punctuates the feeling with a groovy, warbly guitar lick that melds with the upbeat tones of a vibraphone, courtesy of session player Nick Werth. The result is this ebullient transition into the next verse and the dopamine hit of Nicole’s and LaCourse’s optimism and gorgeous vocal twining. Allen’s crystal-clear production and ear for the emotional stirring that certain guitar FX produces give Runaway Sky’s arrangements some nicely surprising moments. Besides electric guitar, he also played acoustic guitar, banjo, baritone guitar, and synthesizer throughout the album. Runaway Sky’s studio band also included Drew Harakal on keys and organ, Burton Lee on steel guitar, Matt Mabe on drums, Ryan Stogner on bass, and a string section composed of Leoncarlo Canlas, Scarlet Deering, Hamin Kim, and Alexander Moreno.
It’s probably inevitable that a folk- and Americana-inspired songwriting duo consisting of two women will get Fleetwood Mac-minus-the-dudes comparisons. And their first release, in 2024, was a track called “Arizona,” the title of which suggests a Stevie Nicks influence, even though the song has more in common with those of Sheryl Crow’s Tuesday Night Music Club than Stevie’s Southwestern mysticism. But Runaway Sky doesn’t really sound like Fleetwood Mac, nor anyone else, for that matter. Their songs sound like Runaway Sky. Nicole credited Allen’s production for giving their tracks that unique quality that sets them apart from the easy, one-size-doesn’t-really-fit-all genre categorization. It’s not as if they are springing an unwarranted reggae part on their listeners or shoehorning some proggy, acoustic showboating where it doesn’t serve the music. Allen just helped them fully realize their ideas.
“We were really open to Tim Lightyear’s ideas about guitar parts or harmonies,” Nicole said.
Allen’s guidance on Damn Feelings really allowed Nicole and LaCourse the opportunity to be themselves.
This coming week, Runaway Sky will perform a series of concerts at the Collin College campuses in Frisco, McKinney, Plano, and Wylie, culminating in the release show for Damn Feelings at The Post off West 7th next weekend. The album drops on digital platforms and as both a vinyl LP and CD that day, and singer-songwriter Jesse Spradlin will open the Post gig.
Kind of like how they channeled their serendipitous friendship into a stellar songwriting partnership, Nicole and LaCourse, when not working or playing on their own music, help other women workshop their songs and are always champions of their friends’ tunes. Both women were really excited to play with Spradlin. (“You’ve got to see her,” effused LaCourse.) But even more than their enthusiasm for their circle of fellow songwriters, it’s their joy for writing songs together about whatever comes their way that makes their music special.
Runaway Sky album release
8pm Sat, Sep 26, w/Jesse Spradlin at The Post, 2736 W 6th St, Fort Worth. $20.
