Born in Tucson, AZ, and now based in Nashville, TN, singer-songwriter Remi Goode creates emotionally packed alt-folk that as one press release put it is “so quietly disarming, that you can’t help but stop what you’re doing and really listen…Remi’s music lives in that magical space between folk tradition and indie experimentation, carried by her nylon-string guitar, raw emotional insight, and a warm voice full of quiet power.”
She writes song lyrics that aren’t afraid of getting into the uncomfortable facets of life and relationships and find threads that are personal and universal. It’s a theme of Goode’s debut, Things I’ve Said Before, which came out on September 26th. One of the album’s standout tracks is “Punchline”, which was based on conversations with a friend who she felt was mistakenly falling for a bad relationship.
You can listen to the song below:
“I wrote this song about the experience of watching my friend romanticize a bad relationship, which was hard for me to watch because she was reminding me too much of myself,” says Goode.
She says that the song is “kind of a sleeper” but that she’s really enjoyed playing it as a duo lately with her partner (and frequent collaborator on stage) Gabe Lehrer.
“The two nylon-string guitars in this arrangement allow us to focus on the lyrics and melody, without losing the slow-jam groove and openness of the studio version,” she says.
Those qualities are readily evident during the performance of the song for SWT’s Water Tower Sessions series. They self-filmed it on an iPhone in their home studio in East Nashville, where they finished recording and also mixed the album.
You can watch the session below:
So, why did they film there?
“We moved to Nashville two years ago to join the inspiring folk/americana music community here,” says Goode. “I built out the studio, including painting the walls and hanging all the acoustic treatment because Gabe is the least handy person on the planet.”
While there aren’t any stories behind the nature-themed posters (“they just look cool, Goode says), the black and white print hanging behind Goode’s head on the wall used to belong to Lehrer’s grandparents.
“It shows two people in contorted shapes playing guitar together, and it reminded Gabe and I of ourselves because we’re both perfectionists,” she says.
For her part, Goode is a talented DIY minded singer-songwriter, classically trained guitarist and former member of the acclaimed Tucson Girls Chorus. She draws on a wide range of influences, finding inspiration from anyone from Suzanne Vega to Kathleen Edwards to Sarah Harmer.
According to a press release, “Whether recorded in a bedroom with her co-producer and partner Gabe Lehrer or captured in a studio with additional musicians, the songs on Things I’ve Said Before flow with natural ease, anchored by the subtle strength of her guitar and her thoughtful lyrical lens.”
You can watch a few more examples below:
The song and album have a special aura and staying power and we here at SWT are excited to see where she and Lehrer go from here.
You can follow and listen to Remi Goode at the links below:
Remi’s website: remigoodemusic.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/remigoodemusic
Instagram: Instagram.com/_remigoode_
TikTok: Tiktok.com/@_remigoode_
YouTube: Youtube.com/@remigoode
Spotify: Remi Goode on Spotify
You can see her live at the following tour dates:
October 23rd – Nashville, TN – Eastside Bowl
November 5th – Madison, WI – Gamma Ray
November 6th – Chicago, IL – Uncommon Ground
November 7th – Paw Paw, MI – Lucky Wolf
November 8th – Ann Arbor, MI – Moonwinks
November 11th – Pittsburgh, PA – House Show
November 12th – Brooklyn, NY – Sleepwalk
November 13th – Boston, MA – Club Passim
November 14th – Lancaster, PA – West Art
November 15th – Philadelphia, PA – Harmonie Hall
November 16th – Bethlehem, PA – Godfrey Daniels
November 22nd – Tucson, AZ – Wooden Tooth
November 28th – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
