Oh Jeremiah

What started as a solo-folk dream in the mind of Mississippi native Jeremiah Stricklin soon transformed into a story worth telling when Alabama’s Erin Raber stepped on a stage in her Mardi Gras dress and said “I, do.” Ever since, husband and wife duo Oh Jeremiah have been telling timeless stories from stages all over the country through their unique blend of acoustic plot structures, bright electric imagery, poignant string motifs, and harmonic dialogues.

After putting down new artistic roots in Athens, GA in 2016, Oh Jeremiah are making a name for themselves as indie artists whose identity is found more in their quirky, short-film quality music videos than it is dictated by the turbulent tides of the music industry. The duo started out as two people who love each other and love their instruments, and that love keeps their songs and their message grounded without the need for a big break or a chart-topping hit. It’s this middle ground between the starving artist and the next viral superstar that is allowing Oh Jeremiah to tell honest stories removed from the ego or the darkness that plague so many in the music industry.

This identity is at the heart of their newly-Kickstarted, sophomore album, Joymonger. Jeremiah said about the new album, “Joymonger is a return to innocence for us. When I started out, all my heroes were sad people and sad songwriters. I woke up one night with the name Joymonger in my mind and it was like I had all the answers for a test I had been taking for years. I started writing these fun songs and realized sadness wasn’t genuine for me. Being a joymonger made songwriting fun again.” With Joymonger, Oh Jeremiah is attempting to fill the void of timeless, upbeat, musical fables left by the great Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. But like S&G, Oh Jeremiah isn’t afraid to press into the honesty of life’s tougher emotions.

The album’s second single, “Backwards Heart,” is their first song written from the perspective of the couple’s better half, Erin Stricklin. The song is an intimate confession about the challenges of being one-half of a touring band and struggling with anxiety. A band manager, tour manager, accountant, and transcendent vocalist & violinist, Erin is the heartbeat of Oh Jeremiah, and with her perspective front and center in Joymonger, Oh Jeremiah is at its most authentic.

The duo’s experiences as musicians who are first and foremost life partners lends Oh Jeremiah their most relatable stories and lighthearted sounds to-date. Their songs want to help you find the joyful moments in life that you might be missing, and celebrate with you the ones you’ve found.

“lighthearted” is an alternative, indie-folk band based in Athens, Georgia. The band officially formed in 2019, but twin sisters Eliza and Gracie have been playing music together since they can remember. Their first five-song EP “Asking for a Friend” came out in May of 2020, and most recently, they released “ghost” and “wild woods,” the lead singles off of their upcoming debut album.