[Cover photo credit to Amber Shumake]
Fort Worth, Texas songwriters Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller have been building a life together for some time, but it took major life events and even more time to begin to write songs together. Their upcoming debut album Love (and Other Mysteries) tells tales from that road, but it’s described as “equal parts contemplation, wisdom, and simple fun.” It arrives on March 24th, 2023.
Today, we’re very pleased to debut their song “Thick as Thieves” from the new album here at Wildfire. It’s a track that is highly personal in some ways but also finds, in its details, the wider human experiences that are woven into the context of any relationship. It’s in spite of those different experiences, and because of love’s mysteries, that a couple still becomes “thick as thieves”.
Tipps and Obermiller share about the new track:
As anyone can attest, we are certainly this. Reworked from its original form into a duet for the record. Every word of this song is true: from our deep, deep love, to her father’s passing, to our earliest arguments.
While the duo could easily be described as Folk or Americana in their sound on this album, Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller are not genre-specific as songwriters. Similar to their wide-ranging thematic topics in their songs, their music is chosen from a wide array of possibilities to “suit the song at hand.”
In their live shows together, whether performing in intimate listening rooms or on festival stages, they seek to “bring a connection of energy” to their audiences built on their own connection to each other.
Performing on the new album, the duo were joined by Trey Ware on drums, Matt Tedder and Joe Ward on electric guitar, Aden Bubeck and Nate Schneidewent on bass, and Trevi Foxworth provided additional vocals.
The album Love (and Other Mysteries) was Produced by Stefan Prigmore, Hilary Tipps & Steve Obermiller, engineered by Peter Weirenga and Tanner Landry, and recorded at Southside Recorders, Meadowbrook Sounds, and Fort Worth Sound, Studio B, all in Forth Worth, Texas.
Album tracklisting:
1. Ferris Wheel 4:00 (Tipps)
2. Rewind, Repeat 3:05 (Tipps/Obermiller)
3. Heart 3:57 (Tipps/Obermiller)
4. My Love 5:14 (Obermiller)
5. Thick as Thieves 3:59 (Obermiller)
6. Willow Tree 4:14 (Obermiller)
7. These Hands 3:49 (TIpps/Obermiller/Prigmore)
8. Jack 3:55 (Tipps)
9. Mrs. Montgomery* 4:35 (Obermiller)
10. Trouble in Mind** 4:43 (Obermiller)
11. Rewind Repeat 3:05 (Radio Edit)
