S.G. Goodman shares new single ‘Michael Told Me’

S.G. GOODMAN SHARES VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE ‘MICHAEL TOLD ME’

NEW ALBUM PLANTING BY THE SIGNS OUT 20 JUNE VIA SLOUGH WATER RECORDS / THIRTY TIGERS

UK TOUR IN SEPTEMBER INCLUDING LONDON’S OSLO

“Brilliant, vivid story telling”
9/10 Uncut

“She leaps across the yearning distance separating Waxahatchee from Lucinda Williams”
Pitchfork

“With her sharp eye for character and scene and her arresting voice — which sounds like it could be emanating from a century-old 78 — Goodman is the latest in a wave of Kentucky artists who divine inspiration from their home state”
The New York Times

“Gripping songwriting that is as contemplative as it is captivating”
PAPER

“Her voice glasslike and flecked with pain as she sings”
Rolling Stone

Watch the video for ‘Michael Told Me’ here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdo29t0O-z0

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

Today, S.G. Goodman releases her new single ‘Michael Told Me’ from her forthcoming third studio album, Planting by the Signs, due out June 20 via her very own Slough Water Records / Thirty Tigers.

’Michael Told Me’ is an expertly constructed song that spans the distance between grief and reconciliation using the city of Los Angeles as a narrative anchor. That’s where S.G. Goodman and her longtime collaborator Matt Rowan fell out due to the gruelling nature of touring, which led to a two-year period of silence between the two friends. Los Angeles is also where Goodman learned the news that her father figure and mentor, whom she lovingly referred to as “Murray Dad Mike,” had died tragically in a freak accident involving a tree. She was on the road when she learned this news, and carried on. But that grief opened up a line back to Matt. A line that led to the making of this album, of two friends reuniting and co-producing, and recreating musical magic in the studio, in honour of their shared father figure.

Says S.G.:
“The grief of losing a father figure amounted to needing all of my chosen brothers. We told each other that we loved each other, and Matt told me he would take care of Mike’s partner and all of our friends while we finished up our run. The song “Michael Told Me” was started shortly after our falling out in 2021, and the song fully revealed itself in the winter of 2024.”

“It is a song of reconciliation, and a testament to my relationship to two great men who believe that there is something worth getting to on the other side of feeling hurt. Our friendship had been pruned back for a time, but Mike had always assured me that new growth would come, and I believed him. It truly is one of life’s greatest gifts to understand and to experience love that can overcome ruptures.”

’Michael Told Me’ follows previous singles ‘Fire Sign’, ‘Satellite’ and ‘Snapping Turtle’ which between them were featured in The Guardian, The New Cue (“magnificent”), Uncut, The Line of Best Fit, Pitchfork, Our Culture, GoldFlakePaint, Holler and more.

S.G. also recently spoke about the new album in a 5-page feature in Uncut, which features contributions from Jim James – who produced her debut record – who said “When I first heard her, I was spellbound,” and Will Oldham – who appears on the new album – who said, “Big power, big vulnerability and an awareness of the vital container of a song inherently is, for exploration of emotion and humanity.”

S.G. also recently announced an August/September European tour with her first ever UK headline tour dates including London’s Oslo, Manchester’s Gullivers and Bristol’s Louisiana. She has today followed up with news of a US tour with dates at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, L.A.’s Troubadour and Nashville’s Basement East. Full dates can be found here.

When S.G. returned home to Kentucky to write this album, she hit a wall, because she hadn’t paused for years. So she took stock got back to nature, and looked back to the ancient Appalachian wisdom of planting by the signs, i.e. idea that cutting your hair, or laying down shingles, are best timed to lunar and planetary cycles.

In the autumn of 2024, Goodman decamped to the Nutt House in Sheffield, AL, alongside co-producer Drew Vandenberg (her co-producer on 2022’s Teeth Marks), guitarist/songwriter Matt. With her two collaborators and a cast of musical characters including Goodman tracked what is by no exaggeration her best record to date. Planting by the Signs finds Goodman exploring this old story and other themes in the only way she knows; with a fresh musical and lyrical perspective, vivid, incisive detail, and a heaping dose of empathy and compassion.

S.G. GOODMAN

Kentucky born-and-raised S.G. Goodman catapulted on to the scene in 2020 with her debut album Old Time Feeling. She took her show on the road across the world, gaining fans and followers, performing with My Morning Jacket, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Margo Price and M.J. Lenderman as well as landing a fan in Tyler Childers, who covered her song ‘Space And Time’ from her debut. ‘Space And Time’ was also covered by Dev Hynes/Blood Orange for the Paul Schrader film Master Gardner.  In 2022, she released Teeth Marks, a critical darling that levelled her up, gaining praise from the New York Times, landing her an NPR Tiny Desk, landing on Pitchfork and NPR’s Best Of lists, and earning her the Best Emerging Artist Award at the 2023 Americana Awards. She clocked over 150 performances in 2023 alone, including headlining sold out tours.

Now, after a fruitful reprieve, S.G. Goodman is back and better than ever.

Pre-order Planting by the Signs here:
https://orcd.co/sg-pbts

Photo credit: Ryan Hartley

High-res images can be found here

Tour Dates:

23 Aug – Falkenberg, SE @ Rootsy Summer Fest
24 Aug – Stockholm, SE @ Stockholm Roots
26 Aug – Oslo, NO @ Belleville
28-29 Aug – Tønder, DK @ Tønder Festival
31 Aug – Den Haag, NL @ Once In A Blue Moon Festival

2 Sep – London @ Oslo Hackney
4 Sep – Manchester @ Gullivers
5 Sep – Bristol @ Louisiana

Full US dates and tickets are available here:
https://www.sggoodman.net/tour

Planting by the Signs tracklist:

1. Satellite
2. Fire Sign
3. I Can See the Devil
4. Snapping Turtle
5. Michael Told Me
6. Solitaire
7. I’m In Love
8. Nature’s Child (feat. Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
9. Heat Lightning
10. Planting by the Signs (feat. Matthew Rowan)
11. Heaven Song