Not missing a beat since her last full-length release, Elexa Dawson unearths Stay Put. Reviving the ensemble who backed her on her 2019 debut, Music is Medicine, Stay Put delivers a hazy, classic sound with plenty of nostalgia and dirt under its nails.

“Stay Put is both a follow-up to Wanderlust and a sequel to Music is Medicine,” Dawson explains. “It takes me back to my roots as an acoustic player and collaborator and showcases the ensemble that made Music is Medicine a success, with the seasoned experience that came with all the electric experimentation that we did with Wanderlust. Peter Oviatt is one of the best producers working in our scene today, and his embellishments, whether it’s his signature banjo or exploration with polyphonic synths, are so tasty and original. Kelby on bass is like a security blanket, and Melissa’s vocals are always the perfect accompaniment to mine. I’m proud of this work and my team.”

From the opening reimagining of Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” as an Indigenous chant, Elexa stimulates the memory of civil rights issues of the ‘60s and reflects their relevance to present-day conflict. The title track, “Stay Put” is a songwriter’s song, a confession of a restless poet who leaves the comfort of indulgent love to chase inspiration. “Man Mountain” and “Cove” were written about and by, respectively, a mentor and a man who knows the value of a place that holds you close. In “Roots Grow”, a story about the way trees can teach us to live edifies the listener with an assurance of resilience in the face of adversity. “Baling Hay” is a tribute to Elexa’s Grandpa, a humble, hardworking soul whose tractor-greasy grace lives on in memory and song. Finally, “The Riddle Song” documents Elexa’s inherited rendition of a traditional Appalachian tune sung to her from the morning she was born by her Nana, who dubbed her an alto that day, and continues to support her from the other side of the soil.

Stay Put proves a deeply rooted and timely work sprouting from the grounding element of earth. With this viscerally personal release, Dawson anchors her message in the soil of memory, tradition, and identity. Building on her two preceding albums, Elexa continues to amplify the ancestors, infusing her voice with the grit of Oklahoma red dirt and wind-washed Kansas prairie. These are homesick songs, not just in the geographic sense, but in the spiritual and emotional sense of belonging in a world where we’re more detached from our nourishing roots every day. Stay Put is a call to remember and celebrate those roots. Elexa pays tribute to the places that raised her, the familial ties that shaped her story, and the Indigenous traditions that inform her sense of purpose and place in the world. Stay Put will make itself comfortable in the heart of anyone who has ever felt the gravity of home, the ache for grounding, and the power of not forgetting where you come from.