MEELS MAKES HER LOST HIGHWAY RECORDS DEBUT WITH NEW EP, ACROSS THE RACCOON STRAIT, SET FOR JANUARY 30 RELEASE

Following the success of her debut EP, Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom, singer-songwriter Meels has signed to Nashville-based Lost Highway Records. The label will release her follow-up EP, Across The Raccoon Strait, on January 30, 2026. She shared “Vultures”, the toe-tapping third single. With characteristic warmth and humor, Meels offers a reflection from the highway – “vultures on the fence post roadkill on the centerline / eyes are on the highway but your always on my mind / man I’m awful sorry for the fly that I hit on the 5 / I’d be doing jail time / if it’s a crime to be small and alive.”

Meels said, “Lost Highway has a legacy that means so much to me, both as a listener and a songwriter. I’m incredibly thankful to be working with such a dedicated team and to release music through the same label that once carried so many of my idols.”

“At the heart of her artistry, Meels paints a vivid picture with her music through a lens that simultaneously feels familiar yet uniquely her own,” commented Robert Knotts and Jake Gear, Executive Vice Presidents and Co-Heads of Lost Highway. “With her upcoming project, Across the Raccoon Strait, she invites the listener into a world she has created that feels lived in and at home, and we are excited to help build upon that world and her vision together.”

They added, “Championing unique and artistic voices is paramount to the foundation of Lost Highway and in that spirit, we are honored Meels has agreed to join the Lost Highway family. We cannot wait to bring her songs and artistic voice to the world!”

Each of the EP’s seven songs was written by Meels and she produced them alongside Hush Kids member Peter Groenwald (Liz Longley, Prateek Kuhud) and Mark Campbell (Sasha Cooke, Kamala Sankaram), her Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom collaborators. Across The Raccoon Strait includes Meels’ two fall 2025 singles – “The Wizard,” a whimsical yet deeply personal song that transforms her lifelong experience with OCD into a playful, poetic narrative, and “Willow Song,” which invites listeners even deeper into her world, reminding them to seek stillness amid the chaos of life.

Check out her live performance of “The Wizard” at Glacier National Park Conservancy – the first in the “Meels National Park Services” video series. Her playful official video for “Willow Song” features an animated lead-in reminiscent of the introduction to the 1970’s variety show “Hee Haw” and a performance, introduced by two puppet characters, on a set evocative of “The Muppet Show” episode 401, which featured John Denver. Denver was frequently spun on the family turntable as Meels’ was growing up among the redwoods of Northern California.

Earlier this week, Meels announced a trio of headline shows: February 17 at Nashville’s Station Inn, February 22 at Skinny Dennis in Brooklyn and a March 10 hometown show at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA. Tickets are available HERE. She will open for Margo Price in late February and early March. In April, Meels will join Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their All The Good Times: The Farewell Tour. See below for itinerary. In 2025, she shared stages with Old Crow Medicine Show, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Molly Tuttle and Kaitlin Butts.

Born Amelia Einhorn and raised in Mill Valley, CA, Meels picked up the piano at age five and quickly found solace in songwriting. Over the years, her creative compass expanded to guitar and banjo – her current tools of choice and the backbone of her distinctive sound. After studying Recorded Music at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, she began shaping a sound all her own – one that blends folk, country, and bluegrass into what she calls “Critter Country,” where nostalgia meets honesty, and every song feels like home.

2024’s Tales from a Bird’s Bedroom introduced Meels as a striking new voice in indie folk and earned praise from Earmilk for its “rich sonics, evocative storytelling, and expressive vocal lines.” Urbanista Magazine noted, “The album intricately weaves elements of nostalgia, nature, and complex human connections into a rich sonic tapestry, transforming mere songs into profound stories and heartfelt confessions.” Leading off its recent “10 Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know” round-up with Meels, Holler. marveled, “[Meels] is a country music misfit in the very finest, most traditional sense.”

Track Listing – Across The Raccoon Strait

1. Out West
2. Vultures
3. Old Mill Valley
4. Willow Song
5. Praise The Sheep
6. The Wizard
7. Marsha June

 

Meels – Tour Dates

2/17 – Nashville, TN – Station Inn ^

2/22 – Brooklyn, NY– Skinny Dennis ^

2/24 – Buffalo, NY – Electric City *

2/25 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre *

2/26 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater *

3/1 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue *

3/10 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall ^

4/9 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall +

4/10 – Easton, PA – State Theatre Center for the Arts +

4/11 – Beverly, MA – The Cabot +

4/12 – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre +

4/14 – Rutland, VT – The Paramount Theatre +

4/16 – Plymouth, MA – Plymouth Memorial Hall +

4/17 – Nashua, NH – Nasua Center for the Arts +

4/18 – Niagara Falls, ON – Fallsview Casino Resort, The Avalon Theatre +

4/19 – Albany, NY – The Egg Center for the Performing Arts – Kitty Carlisle Hart Theater +

6/25 – Pendleton, OR – Jackalope Jamboree 2026

 

^ headline show

* supporting Margo Price

+ supporting Nitty Gritty Dirt Band