Singer-songwriter Arlo McKinley has released a new song, “Watching Vermont.” In addition to posting “Watching Vermont,” McKinley announced plans to release a new song in each of the next few months, leading to his upcoming three-song EP, Borrowed & Blue.
The Ohio-born McKinley has three outstanding albums under his belt, after only releasing his first album, Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound (2014), at the age of 35. Following that release in 2019, John Prine stopped by a show and became a fan. Subsequently, Prine’s indie label Oh Boy Records signed McKinley, who released the albums Die Midwestern (2020) and This Mess We’re In (2022). At the time of the release of the latter album during the pandemic, Chimesfreedom called it an “outstanding timely and timeless album” that “reflects on pain, loss, and hope.”
In the new track, “Watching Vermont,” the lyrics do not mention the state that is in the title. But the evocation of winter and an old road create an image of Vermont. In the song, the singer says goodbye to a former love: “As your old place / It fades in the rearview / I’m trying to get my mind off you.”
Check out McKinley playing “Watching Vermont” below.
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