Strand Of Oaks Releases John Prine Ode ‘Somewhere In Chicago’

Strand of Oaks (Timothy Showalter) today unveiled the single “Somewhere In Chicago,” a song penned in honor of the late John Prine. “Somewhere In Chicago” appears on In Heaven, a studio album set for release through Tim’s Galacticana Records imprint via Thirty Tigers on October 1.

Showalter assembled with producer Kevin Ratterman in October 2020 to record the 11-track follow-up to 2019’s Eraserland at Invisible Creature in Los Angeles. In Heaven marks Tim’s eighth studio album issued under the Strand Of Oaks name and first after a move to Austin. The album features Showalter on guitar and vocals, Ratterman on drums, My Morning Jacket members Carl Broemel on guitars and Bo Koster on keyboards as well as bassist Cedric LeMoyne and violinist Scott Moore with James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins contributing vocals and guitar to the track “Easter.”

“My ode to the late John Prine and the midwestern ethos he so perfectly embodied,” Showalter said of “Somewhere In Chicago” in a press release. “The song dreams of the great city of Chicago where John can forever and happily wander.” John Prine died on April 7, 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.

“John Prine talked and thought like I did and my parents did and everyone I grew up with,” Tim added on Twitter. “For someone from Northern Indiana, John Prine was my Willie Nelson. The patron saint of Midwestern ethos. I think about him every time I pick up a guitar.”

Check out a visualizer for “Somewhere In Chicago” below: