MI Local: Singer-songwriter Josie Palmer talks about a life in music + premieres new song

This week, MI Local was packed with several exclusive premieres of new tracks by local artists, including Taylor DeRousse, with “Ruins,” and the duo known as Dirt Room with “Solar Hits.” I also gave listeners sneak previews of songs that aren’t released yet (but will be soon), including punk trio The Idiot Kids, with their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” and the versatile rock band Rose St. Germaine, with their forthcoming 45 rpm vinyl release, “You’ll Always Love Me.”

I also had another in-studio guest this week! Detroit-based singer-songwriter Josie Palmer stopped by to talk about some of her recent releases, as well as premiere a new track, “Tuck Everlasting.” Palmer blends alt-folk and indie-rock to augment her subtle-yet-staggering vocal talents which wend their way into slow, swooning choruses that curl into catchy and dreamy melodies. Palmer’s new song, “Tuck Everlasting,” was inspired by the plot of the Natalie Babbitt book, and its film adaptation, regarding the difficult choice of forging one’s own path, particularly applied to breaking out of the cycle of emotional codependency in relationships.

Palmer’s father was a jazz musician who “could play every instrument,” and she quickly aspired to follow in his footsteps. Her parents eventually got Palmer her own guitar “because I kept dragging (my dad’s) guitar around the house as a kid, and banging it up.” After learning guitar, it was piano, then voice lessons, then violin, then youth symphonies and then “a lot of musical theater.”

So, with music being such a focal point of her life, I couldn’t resist asking Palmer what she loves most about it.

“It’s the closest thing we have to magic,” said Palmer, “that’s my best way to describe music.”

Palmer started releasing songs three years ago, but she’s actually been writing and composing for much of her life, in fact, aside from the “magic,” Palmer particularly loves the creative process.

“But I had a lot of inhibitions about releasing music, which is always in this headspace of feeling like I wasn’t allowed to, even though no one was saying that. So, it’s been nice in recent years, just writing more and feeling free to put it out in the world.”

Palmer is also in the band Vaega, a quintet which leans into dream-pop and shoegaze — with each member also having their own respective solo projects. Find Vaega’s recent singles here.

Josie Palmer will be performing live this Thursday Night at the Corktown Tavern.

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

MI Local Playlist for Oct. 22, 2024

• “Ruins” – Taylor DeRousse
• “One Too Many Times” – Lauren Blackford
• “Big Sun” – Ingo Swann
• “The Enchanted Isles” – Deastro
• “Solar Hits” – Dirt Room
• “You’ll Always Love Me” – Rose St. Germaine
• “Talk To Me” – Neu Blume
• “Burn” – The Cult of Spaceskull
• “Paranoid” – The Idiot Kids
• “Tuck Everlasting” – Josie Palmer
• “REM” – Josie Palmer
• “Soft” – Vaega