Hailing from Houston and now based in New York’s Hudson Valley, Denitia is a singer-songwriter who builds her own contemporary folk style upon the foundations of traditional roots music. Self-taught, Denitia grew up performing in choirs and listening to alt rock and grunge, her style now drawing from across these influences to weave restrained yet emotionally powerful songs.
Ahead of her debut record, Highways, Denitia has been releasing a steady stream of singles over the past few months. Writing back in April, we described how the title track captured the bittersweet experience of life on the move. The upbeat song “embrac[ing] this nomadic spirit while recognising the value of connection too,” as we put it. “An ode to the road which is nevertheless unwilling to leave home behind.”
Latest single ‘All the Sweet Tea’ offers a similarly wistful atmosphere, as Denitia taps into bluegrass sensibilities to evoke the American landscape in all its nostalgic idealism. “Don’t wanna waste it / All these precious nights,” she sings, the wide-open space of the mountains and sunsets standing in for a sense of as-of-yet unrealised possibility. “We never know the day /
When we’re gonna fly.” The dream might not be as perfect in reality, but in times when outside forces impinge upon what we can have and where we might go, it is always nice to dream.
All the sweet tea in Carolina
All the sun that comes to dry up all the rain
All the mountain peaks in Colorado
They’re waiting there and
Calling out our names
‘All the Sweet Tea is out now and available from the Denitia Bandcamp page.