Showcasing the sheer depth of Viancourt’s musicality, Won’t Die This Way gracefully journeys from the rowdy honky-tonk of “Crazy in My Mind” to the finespun folk of “Mountain Boy,” endlessly spotlighting the effortless vocal command she first began honing as a kid back in Cleveland. “I come from a pretty musical family, and spent a lot of time sitting around the campfire with 5 to 7 guitars going at once,” she recalls. At age 18 she started writing songs of her own, tapping into longtime inspirations from Jerry Jeff Walker to Shel Silverstein and honing her singular narrative voice with the help of a stack of poetry books inherited from her paternal grandfather. After graduating high school she headed to Nashville and soon found her own community of fellow musicians and songwriters, then later made her debut with the early-2019 single “Playin’ Old Records.” Over the past few years, she’s gained attention as a magnetic live performer, eventually landing such high-profile gigs as opening for Jinks and the legendary Travis Tritt in 2021. “With the live show I always try to bring a good time and help people to let loose but also connect with each other,” says Viancourt. “To me the most special thing about music is how it can help you feel less alone.”
In the making of her debut album, Viancourt fully devoted herself to the work of preserving and magnifying her music’s emotional impact, continually bringing a profound attention to detail to her production choices. “One of the reasons I loved working with Kyle is how he helped me to understand the process of creating something meaningful to leave behind,” she says. “When we first started working on the record I had this idea that I had to nail everything in one take, but he stopped me cold in my tracks and said, ‘That’s not what we’re doing. We’re making a fossil.’” And thanks to that extraordinary level of care, Won’t Die This Way fulfills the essential mission at the heart of all of Viancourt’s songwriting. “I hope this album makes people want to move around a dance floor with a cold beverage, sing at the top of their lungs with the windows down, and keep moving forward with whatever they’re looking for in life,” she says. “Most of all I hope it reminds everyone that they’re not alone and we’re all a little crazy—so let’s all grow together and do it with style.
BIO
Full-hearted, free-spirited, and irresistibly genuine, Erin Viancourt’s take on country music is both timeless and entirely attuned to the chaos of modern life. On her debut album Won’t Die This Way, the Cleveland-bred singer/songwriter/guitarist brings her lived-in storytelling to a gritty but gorgeously detailed batch of songs, encompassing everything from Americana to Western swing to classic outlaw country. Rooted in the warm and radiant vocal presence she’s shown onstage in touring arenas with Cody Jinks (who recently made Viancourt the first signing to his Late August Records), Won’t Die This Way ultimately reveals her rare capacity to soothe the soul and leave the listener newly empowered to live each day to the absolute fullest.
Co-produced by Viancourt and Kyle Dreaden, Won’t Die This Way came to life at Nashville’s Forty One Fifteen and The Smoakstack in a series of sessions. With its tracklist comprised of songs she’s gathered over the past decade, the album opens on “Cheap Paradise,” a joyfully irreverent and tender ode to life’s simplest pleasures. “It’s always fun to take a big trip to somewhere you’ve never been, but to me paradise is driving down an open back road or sitting in a dive bar with a good jukebox and bottle of cheap beer,” says Viancourt. In its up-close exploration of the human heart’s infinite complexity, Won’t Die This Way also offers up such soul-baring tracks as “Who Taught You How To Love” (a beautifully aching slow-burner laced with jazz-like percussion) and “Should’ve Known Better'' (an epic yet exquisitely restrained outpouring of regret, featuring a blistering guitar solo from Lentner). And on Won’t Die This Way’s title track—co-written with Jinks and Kendell Marvel—Viancourt delivers a defiant anthem whose raw intensity is gloriously heightened by its powerful harmonies and smoldering guitar riffs. "Many can relate to the feeling of needing personal change and realizing that they must be the ones to make it happen," she says. "This applies to relationships, careers, living situations, old habits/mindsets and the list goes on that can affect ones happiness and peace. That responsibility can feel like both a defeat and a breakthrough, but we only get one life. I hope this song inspires others and gives them the extra courage to take the reins and create positive changes."
