Palmyra are Restless in Charlotte discussing their debut album and tour

In a flash, one particular moment can change your entire life unexpectedly. It can be getting your first car, getting an acceptance letter to your dream school, making new friends, or listening to a song that’s so incredibly honest it pulls on your heart strings. The debut album by the Virginia-based folk band Palmyra is one of those moments and is a memorable album that you will not forget.  

The three best friends of Palmyra – Teddy Chipouras, Mānoa Bell, and Sasha Landon – released an album that not only served as a form of release, but also crafting a heartfelt letter to their fans, in the form of 10 beautifully vulnerable songs about healing and self-acceptance. The process and even the release of Restless had even united the band.

“It’s been a whirlwind less than a month since the record came out, which is cool! Emotionally, we’re all actually super united,” said Mānoa. He even expressed the excitement of being back on tour, and the passion that the three all have for creating this album, all fueled by their love for the adventure that lies beyond twist and turns of the road, and the shows they are eager to play.

“Sasha and I were just talking about how we’re looking forward to being on the road. We’ve always loved touring and playing shows, and it’s especially exciting right now because it’s like that thing we’ve been working on for four years, like releasing this record, and writing these songs,” he said.

All three explored the depth of the album as they spoke candidly of their creative process and experiences. Playing the songs whether in the studio, or even live served as a transformative process for the band. Writing and creating the songs and bringing them to life not only brought the band closer together, but also created a sense of relief, a chance to take a breath. 

“I think playing the songs every night is like the biggest release that we get, or for me at least,” says Sasha. “It’s writing the song when you have something that is sitting heavy on you. Having it come out is really cathartic.” 

Sasha, listening and creating the music, even described the process of how a song takes on many different lives, calling the final piece as both scary, yet cool.

“Something that the three of us talk about is how a song has many lives. It starts in one person’s head, it goes to the group, we turn it into something else, we start playing it in front of people, they turn it into something else, we take it into the studio and the people we work with, and we turn it into something else. Now it’s out in the world for anybody to interpret it how they want to,” they said. 

“That is a really kind of scary, cool, yet beautiful thing. A lot of these tunes are about being tired, from traveling, and pushing ourselves all the time to do this thing that we love. The ways that that wears on us and our relationships and the people that matter to us and each other. I think we all had our hands in it from the jump. It’s definitely cathartic to have it out there and I’m proud of it.” 

The bond of the three’s strong friendship and acceptance had been a huge part of the journey for the band, as they faced many life altering events. Sasha openly spoke about navigating and understanding their bipolar diagnosis and beautifully channeling it into the album’s fifth track, “Shape I’m In.” Sasha even described the track as apologetic.

“Lyrically it’s a song about not being able to make sense of anything that’s happening around you and not knowing what to say other than, ‘I’m sorry.’ There’s a line in the song near the end that’s like, ‘Won’t you take a look? Won’t you take a long one?  I think that’s what the whole song is trying to do, like ‘Here’s this thing that I have to look at every day, won’t you look at it with me? I’m doing so much better now than I was when I wrote it, but that’s where it came from,” they said.

The album concludes with an exhale with “Carolina Wren,” a song that expresses acceptance and embracing everything that you have experienced, the good and the bad. Sasha described the song as being present and getting a moment to sit still while dealing with the internal and external factors of what’s happening in life and harnessing it. 

“I think for all of us it is about fleeting moments of gratitude, guilt, exhaustion, and joy. The last four years have really flown in a beautiful way. You blink and you’re here and it’s today and there is a whole new can of worms that life is giving you to deal with,” Sasha described. 

“We are always moving even when we’re trying to sit still. And I think “Carolina Wren” is the tune that I wrote after sitting still for kind of the longest I had in a while. It is about trying to hold onto what you can, and really trying to be present when you have a moment of clarity, which is such a hard thing to do.”

In addition to the release of these 10 beautiful songs, Palmyra will be traveling to Charlotte on their tour with the same name, sharing the stage with Joseph Terrell at Petra’s Bar in Plaza Midwood. While the band is beyond excited to be traveling back to the Queen City to play at the bar, they are also looking forward to seeing fans, old and new, and immersing themselves back into the lively city.

“I really like the community that goes to Petras. It feels super comfortable. I think we’re looking forward to hopefully seeing some new faces. I’m hoping to have a moment of, oh, it all makes sense now,” said Landon.

Fans can even expect a chill, yet lively night at the bar as they introduce songs from their latest album. 

“We have a lot of fun on stage. We try to make a fun inviting space for everybody,” says Teddy.  “We’re gonna play a lot of the new record, which we’re having a lot of fun doing. Our buddy Joseph Terrell, who’s in a band called Mipso, he’s gonna be opening up the show and he is incredible.”

Ahead of the rest of their tour, the band is looking forward to playing at the Iron Blossom Music Festival in Richmond, VA as well as playing more house shows, which is a change of scenery. For Palmyra, where they can really connect and get to know their fans.

“These small, intimate shows are just in people’s living room or backyard. There’s often between like 20 and 50 people, and we get to meet everyone there. It’s so different from a club show,” said Teddy. “It’s fun to mix it up and go back and forth between these club shows and house shows and get both the feeling of a rock band and feeling like a folk group, really connecting with the audience.”

The band however, expressed that while many exciting things are in store for Palmyra, small or big, they are always looking to make music with each other.

Sasha ecstatically says, “There are so many cool shows on our calendar that I am pumped about. And like Mono was talking about, the crew that we have right now is so fun. We are such a fun group. It’s our first time in a big van! I’m just excited to have some fun on the road with my buds!” 

See Palmyra on tour, and stream Restless on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more!