Jane O’Neill grew up with a steady diet of music — literally. On Sundays, O’Neill and her eleven siblings would devote themselves to music instruction and singing the songs of folk musicians like John Denver and Bonnie Raitt. O’Neill’s new single “Where the Water Flows” stems from that family tradition of music and togetherness.
Eventually she’d leave behind the shores of Lake Michigan, which is an inspiration in much of her work, for the charm of the Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast, finding a home in the queer community in Virginia which is where she’s built her career in Americana. Her music resonates with a subtle longing for home though, reflecting her sentimental spirit and the musical influences she grew up with. She writes songs that tell universal tales of love, self-discovery, and resilience, all nestled within a voice that upon first listen, you’d swear belongs on the record shelf next to the greats.
“Where the Water Flows” is unassuming — until you realize it’s opened your heart a little bit wider by the end of the tune. O’Neill’s voice has a gorgeous clarity and it’s brimming with so much love.
“On an unassuming night out, a friend shared a captivating story with me that would become the heart of my latest creation,” O’Neill explains. “Envisioning a future where she and her wife grow old, sailing into a storm together to celebrate life, her narrative was so vivid that I felt compelled to race home immediately and write a song about it that day. I could hear the fiddle in it right away – I knew it would intensify the depth and emotion behind both the story and the melody, with sounds similar to the swells and echoes of the water. A week later, I had a buddy add a fiddle part. And few months later, I was in the studio recording it. In a genre where narratives of queer women in love and growing old together are scarce, ‘Where the Water Flows’ is a celebration of tenderness, passion, and resilience of queer women in love.”
O’Neill’s EP will be out in February. Stay tuned for news on her show with Brittany Ann Tranbaugh in DC!