“God Made A Farmer” can be traced to a phrase Leah Lavigne spotted hanging on the wall of a small-town Midwestern diner.
“My parents live in a farming town in upper Michigan, and my partner was an urban farmer, so farmers are more on my mind than your average New York City songwriter,” says the creative force behind Brooklyn’s Ok Cowgirl. “When I saw the phrase, I thought it had a great ring to it and jotted it down. It became a jumping-off point to write about class struggle, the ways we cope and solidarity.”
In the process, Lavigne transformed country ephemera into a striking mini anthem celebrating solidarity and resilience. The track is promising teaser to Ok Cowgirl’s sophomore LP, Rhinestone Cowgirl (Easy Does It), produced by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Indigo De Souza). Fittingly, the song’s winding, conversational verses evoke the persistence and repetition of working-class life, with an instrumental refrain functioning as an emotional release valve.
“I liked having these rambling verses with slight variations in the melody and chord progression,” says Lavigne. “When Jake (Sabinsky) wrote his soaring guitar line over the instrumental break, we ended up restructuring the song around it.”
A Korean American raised in predominantly white communities, Lavigne is particularly drawn to questions of empathy and connection. “I’ve always been sensitive to the things that divide us and how powerful and enriching it can be to bridge those differences,” she says. “This song was written during a politically divisive time, but it’s really about curiosity, mutual respect and trying to understand each other.”
We’re proud to premiere Ok Cowgirl’s “God Made A Farmer.” Look for Rhinestone Cowgirl August 21.
—Hobart Rowland
