Orion Redwolf has previously received honors from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, but the award he received in 2023 was his first songwriting fellowship. The Charlottesville songwriter and producer said he realized it was time to challenge himself and write the biggest, scariest song possible.
Redwolf decided to tackle a song that was so close to his heart that he almost didn't want to put it down.
Stormy Days will be released on all major streaming platforms on Thursday via Redwolf Records, along with an accompanying instrumental track. It tells a story of loss, love, and ultimately healing and triumph that spanned nearly two decades.
Orion Redwolf will release Stormy Days, his new single, on major streaming platforms on Thursday.
TRISTAN WILLIAMS
The song turns 18 in August, Redwolf told the Daily Progress. My grief is now a full-fledged adult and part of who I am.
I wrote it the day after my father died, when I was 14, just to try to express my emotions. Over the past ten years, I have returned to this song again and again.
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The title comes from a sentimental memory of his father, who died on August 10, 2006. Although many people Redwolf knew were saddened by the stormy weather, he loved seeing his father brighten up when the rain began to fall.
My father was from Bangladesh, he said. Rainy days reminded him of home. He missed the monsoons.
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The cover art for Stormy Days is a playful childhood snapshot that Redwolf found while looking through family photos with his mother on her birthday. A young Redwolf stands in front of his father in the driveway of their home, holding a garden hose.
We wore matching shirts, Redwolf said. I am the little one and I water my sister and my brother. He was wearing cowboy boots that he had bought the day before at a garage sale.
Fans who heard Redwolf's 2021 single, The Letter, from his debut album, The Good Stuff, listened to a sort of sequel to Stormy Days in which I was sort of thinking back to the heartbreak of my childhood, and I realized that I had never written those words or spoken them. to anyone.
Redwolf hired Matt Wyatt as co-producer and sound engineer for the single, which was another milestone. Stormy Days represents the first time someone else produced Redwolfs' music.
I hired him so I could immerse myself more in the emotions, and so I didn't have to think as much technically, Redwolf said of the collaboration. Letting go from a production standpoint gave him more leeway to process emotions as they arose, and Redwolf quickly realized that getting out of the studio and sharing his music with audience members was part neglected but important to one's healing process.
It reminded me that music is my way of communicating with the world. I didn't feel as much a part of the world as I used to, Redwolf said, adding that he had been so busy producing music to create The Good Stuff and other projects that he didn't have time to go out, play and be part of the world. . I have to go out and fill the well.
Orion Redwolf previously used the name Orion and the Melted Crayons for his creative endeavors, but he decided to use his first and middle names instead.
TRISTAN WILLIAMS
While writing his plans for the VCA, Redwolf realized that I needed to put the song on my bucket list, Redwolf said. Performing Stormy Days for the listeners was incredibly powerful. A lot of things come to the surface. It was like, OK, this is getting real.
That's exactly what will happen at a listening party Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Guajiros Miami Eatery in Charlottesville. At the free event, Redwolf will perform two songs and Ryan Wood of Kendall Street Company will serve as vinyl DJ.
As Redwolf reflects on the pain of losing his father to illness after having to say goodbye over the phone, and the grief that gripped him for so long, he gains a valuable new perspective.
This loss is not something wrong with me, Redwolf said. This is something that happened to me.
The entirety of Stormy Days, filtering the raw anguish of a child through the resilient lens of an adult, has an uplifting way of resonating with listeners who have experienced loss themselves.
Orion Redwolf decided to use a childhood photo of his father playing outside with a young Redwolf and his siblings for the cover of his new single “Stormy Days.”
TRISTAN WILLIAMS
It's not just negative, Redwolf said. His acceptance. This is the process of growing up from a 14 year old boy to a 32 year old man. Yes, there is sadness, but there is a lot of beauty in it.
Redwolf also decided it was time to stop using Orion and the Melted Crayons, the name he had previously chosen for his professional creative endeavors. He keeps his first name, Orion, and moves forward using his middle name; Redwolf pays homage to the emotional environment in which his parents first met at Warren Wilson College.
This is so much like me, Redwolf said of his decision. He is excited to finally be able to use the name that is connected to my family. The Red Wolf is linked to where my parents met in North Carolina.
Redwolf also said he had become more comfortable accepting his strong resemblance to his father, noting in one lyric: “I have the warmth of your smile.”
After getting his name back, Redwolf now realizes that Orion and the melted pencils were confusing to people. Although he thought the name he chose for his professional endeavors spoke of the joyful exploration of an artistic project and the liberation of diving into different colors, people thought the group was the Crayons, he said. he declares.
Redwolf and Wyatt have completed two songs together, and the second will be released later. The other song is something I wrote about fairy tales, Redwolf said.
