Written by Shea Roney

“I think, when it comes down to it, people get into three things as they grow up,” Blair Howerton proclaimed from the stage at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall. In no particular order, she lists out, “sports, birdwatching, or spirituality”. This odd, yet endearing list sparked some chuckles from the audience, then comically rang more true to a lot of people as murmurs like, “holy shit, I just got into birdwatching,” spread throughout the packed hall.

Blair Howerton fronts the Austin/Brooklyn band Why Bonnie. Following the release of their critically acclaimed 2022 debut full-length, 90 in November, an album that defined a childhood spent growing up in Texas, the band looks to ride this momentum forward. Gearing up to announce their next album, Why Bonnie doesn’t hold on to much of the past anymore as they try to shape the future and find steady ground in these trying times. I recently got to chat with Blair Howerton in the midst of this transition period, opening up about where she is at in life, including her own roaming spirituality, a new era of the band, and what the next Why Bonnie album is shaping up to be.

With their second album not yet announced, Why Bonnie took advantage of this most recent supporting tour, with S.G. Goodman, to showcase a lot of the new material. With notable themes revolving around money frustrations, growing/diminishing empathy, and systematic uneasiness, Howerton shares, “I was really interested in the relationship between micro and macro issues and how that kind of plays out in our personal lives.” To the effect in which large issues can bleed down to simple and communally felt points of discomfort, Howerton’s storytelling remains as vivid and authentic as ever through this shift of focus. For as much as 90 in November found a personal home in Austin, Texas, this next Why Bonnie project is a bit more dissociated. Since having moved to Brooklyn, Howerton expresses, “you’re all kind of living on top of each other, so you can’t escape, and you can’t really turn a blind eye, which I think is a really cool thing. It’s definitely a lesson in empathy.” Where this environment has led creatively, she shares, “this is a much more inward looking album. I think it’s bigger than just where I’m at. I think it’s trying to reach everyone.”

Voicing from the Lincoln Hall stage that night, Howerton remarks that she has begun to reassess her personal spirituality, which is a focus point in some of the new songs. Without putting a label on it, she adds, “I’m a very imaginative person, so I like to believe that there’s something else, and that there is something somewhat magical going on.” Although she’s not committed to anything in particular, there can come a sense of comfort when uncertainties are given possible answers. “I have a puny little human brain. We all do, and no one knows anything, and that makes it all that much more interesting.” That’s kind of where Why Bonnie is at these days; “what’s my place in this world,” a considerate and mature question, doesn’t hold the weight it once had.

As Why Bonnie plans out the next few months, the band finds themselves down a player. Kendall Powell, who has played keys with the band since its formation, has taken a personal step back. “We’ve been playing music together for 6 or 7 years, and have been best friends since we were 2. She’ll always be in my life,” Howerton responds when asked how she has adapted to this change. You will still be able to find Powell’s work on the new Why Bonnie project, as “the new album has a lot of great synth on it. We haven’t gotten to show it in our live set yet, but I’m really excited for everyone to hear it,” she shares. As the band looks forward, “we’re moving into a new era, if you will,” Howerton claims. “We don’t exactly know what the future looks like, but we’re just happy to play music together and tour together. It brings us all a lot of joy.” 

“Going back to spirituality,” Howerton relays, “something I’ve really been thinking about a lot is just how deeply similar people really are; how we experience a lot of the same emotions. Maybe different situations, but the way we feel them is all really similar.” This is not only true through unfortunate and systematic commonalities, but it’s also why “sports, birdwatching, or spirituality” is such a genuinely accurate statement. With found joy, communal support, and empathy, suddenly something as simple as stopping to watch a bird or being part of a team offers some sort of confident placement in such a despondent world. As Why Bonnie prepares to move forward, Howerton remains assured, as she voices, “I wrote this new album from a place of, I don’t want to say despair, but just really grappling with all these issues in the world and how to stay hopeful when it’s really hard to be.”

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