By “bag,” we mean “new sound and new single.” And, while Reilly won’t be wearing a cape or doing splits on stage anytime soon, this latest record has a swagger and confidence that will take him from one of the most respected americana songwriters in the southeast and establish him as A hit-making folk-rock northstar.

“Every Reason I Run,” Joshua Reilly’s latest single is the first release from his upcoming, and much anticipated, sophomore album, and what they refer to in the business as “a banger.” It’s an apt reference, as the song doubles down on the unmatched lyricism that brought Joshua Reilly into the national spotlight on his first album, but it’s also a reinvention of sorts. Where Reilly has been every bit the troubadourian singer songwriter, this latest work showcases the true horsepower of his song craft.

Like so many songwriters that swim in the folk/americana/alt-country pool, the latest single from Joshua Reilly followed a familiar origin story; A friend sharing some colorful details about a pain point in a romantic relationship, a few quiet moments of empathy and reflection on the chat, and an acoustic guitar.

Joshua Reilly: “‘Every Reason I Run’ is about the consequences of neglect. It’s a case being made for justifiable infidelity. A defendant laying out the facts, causes, and subsequent results of a painful series of events that might lead someone to empathize with the person stepping out. It’s very much an anthem for those who’ve had enough of a relationship that has been stripped down to nothing. It’s also meant to serve as a wake up call to someone who may be neglecting their partner’s needs.”

The song was pretty well formed from the get-go, and found itself in Reilly’s live solo rotation as he sanded the edges by playing with the tempo and experimenting with the lyrical phrasing. Despite the song being a staple in his performances for the better part of 2022, Reilly hadn’t contemplated a full band arrangement but knew it would make it onto the next record.

To say this is some of Joshua Reilly’s best lyrical work is no small statement when considering his previous releases, but we stand by it. Reilly’s assonance and rhyming schemes are like perfectly choreographed hop scotches for the tongue, with lines like “There’s no way to unmake, Every little heartbreak, honey let’s just roll the credits…”

Reilly’s sensation creation is also at a career high in both its originality and accuity. The chorus hook of “Loving her was licking honey, off a mile of barbed wire fence,” leaves you reeling from the ingenuity and accuracy of his poetic perspective on such a recognizable symptom of heart ache, doing what all great songwriters do; Studying and articulating in art the things we can only feel.

Hearing the acoustic version, it’s easy to picture Reilly and a less-engaged producer drifting with the folky current and considering some blue-grass opportunities. None of those choices would have elicited complaints from Joshua Reilly’s dedicated fan base, but with the caliber of response the song was getting during shows, and Reilly’s intuition, it was clear the song deserved more than just the status quo. It just wasn’t clear how to best serve the song. Enter Joshua’s friend and producer, Stefan Scheuermann.

Scheuermann is the front man for the Indie-Americana band Mercy McCoy, and led the team on Reilly’s first album. Jumping at the chance to work on another Joshua Reilly project, he immediately enlisted his two main collaborators, engineer Andrew Boullianne, and songwriter/guitarist Ed Woltil, to help bring the arrangement to life.

Stefan Scheuermann: “Josh is one of my absolute favorite songwriters and vocalists, and has inspired a lot of my own songwriting. He is kind of a producer’s dream in that he has such great material already with just lyrics and his guitar playing, so you get to put all your brain power into the arrangements. I am such a fan of Josh’s that anytime I hear a new tune of his, ideas start firing immediately, but this one was early in the batch of songs for this upcoming record, and it felt like his writing shifted from the type of song where players might fill in around a songwriter, to a band-ready composition that would live as totally new and unique entity to his original acoustic form. I always hear the influence of Prine, Van Zandt, Isbell, and Fullbright in Josh’s material, but on this one I was hearing Tom Petty, The Beatles, and even Simon & Garfunkel. I remember pitching the approach to Josh and Andrew… They were skeptical but open minded. They trusted me but they weren’t quite getting what I was hearing in my head. Luckily Josh has a great ear and a diverse pallet of his own listening tastes, so he was willing to hear me out, and their patience made all the difference.“

Andrew Boullianne: “This song came together differently from all the songs on Josh’s forthcoming EP. Like Stef said, Josh brought us an acoustic/vocal that we all loved but with no clear idea of what direction to take it. Stef had this idea to pick up the tempo, really lean-into this percussive beat that was really only implied by Josh’s original strumming approach, and to give it this Beatles-y vibe. I love the way that it came out because we spent a lot of time playing around with different tones and references, to the point of almost second guessing it, but ultimately we trusted Stef’s instincts. When we finally found it, everything all of a sudden clicked into place and focus, and it really made the song groove in a way we hadn’t initially considered pushing for. Josh’s vocals are beautiful as always, and the lyrics are wonderfully crafted, so we wanted to be careful not to build something that wouldn’t let those elements still be the center piece. Once Ed started working his guitars and vocals with Stef, I knew we had done Josh’s song justice, and were going to end up with something special. I’m really proud of the way it turned out.”

The song was cut throughout 2023 with the first batch of songs Reilly brought to the group for this project, and they zeroed in on this one as one of the early singles.

SS: ”This had been one of the first ones Josh had in the chamber for this record, so it was important to me that it be among the first ones we worked on. He had been playing it a lot on the road, and we knew he would be especially studio ready and comfortable, and likely need less takes to get ‘the one.’ It was also one of the ones I would most often hear at a concert and lament not being able to listen to on the drive home afterwards. Also, we had really taken our time getting this follow up record together, and making sure Josh was really excited and confident in the batch of songs, so it felt important to come out of the gate with something really fresh and energetic, that his fans would feel warranted the time spent work-shopping this next chapter.”

Scheuermann has been involved with Josh’s recorded work for the better part of a decade, which has included Stef’s primary musical collaborators and long time friends, lead player Collin Ryan (Mercy McCoy), and decorated songwriter Ed Woltil (The Ditchflowers, Mad for Electra, The Headlights). This group, along with Boullianne, made up the Ybor City Records® core team supporting Reilly for this record, and showcases a lot of what continues to make their releases special: A fantastic writer and performer backed by a group of players who are genuinely excited about the material, love playing together, and have a rapport that allows them to musically intuit and articulate in a way that can only be developed over years of working together.

JR: “I’m extremely happy with where this recording landed. I had some general themes in mind I wanted to work towards for most of these songs, but ‘Every Reason [I Run],’ in particular, really had me stumped on what to do with it. Stef was really enthusiastic about picking the song up a bit, and the way he and Andrew have been able to bring things to life together in the studio the last few years told me me to let them run with it. That said, I was not sold from the get-go. I remember walking in for a session where they were recording various live hand claps, and I didn’t see the bigger picture yet. When you’ve gotten really comfortable with a solo performance, all these new elements can make you a little squeamish at first. Now I am the one clapping. We were able to sneak some tougher topics into something upbeat but still retaining a very natural feel, and that feels like such a win.”

SS: “I really love this tune. It has become one of my favorite of Josh’s songs, and just getting work on it at all is such a privilege. It’s like Dalí allowing you to help him pick the colors for his next painting. I am also really proud of what we were able to deliver for Josh. I was really set on this arrangement I was hearing, but if it weren’t for Josh and Andrew being confident in me while we tried to find it, I don’t think we would have got to step two. That would have been a travesty, because step two was Ed and I shaping the guitars and harmony vocals. Ed’s gift for interpreting creative direction is so well refined that it’s almost scary how close the results are to what was in your head. And his playing has such a signature that you know you’re going to have something world class and unique to that track. Plus, Josh and I enlisted Ed for Josh’s standalone single, "‘Over The Bones” [October 2023] so we had built this symbiotic vocal approach and guitar pallet that Josh already really liked. Ed has this way of using his guitar vocabulary and playing-style that it can often be the special sauce our arrangements are missing. This one was a bit like ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ without Mike Campbell, but then Ed heard me out and hit the bullseye in one or two takes that I’d been circling for a week or two.“

Ed Woltil: “Josh’s songs always tell a story, they always have a compelling point of view and they just feel like they have a reason to exist. I’m particularly honored and pleased to play a part in bringing these new songs into the world. I feel like Josh is at a really balanced sweet spot right now…He’s really maturing as an artist, but still open to making discoveries. ‘Every Reason [I Run]’ is just so damn catchy, but it packs an emotional punch.”

Reilly cut the tracks in Studio B in St. Petersburg, Florida, with Scheuermann and Boullianne, perfecting a vocal and acoustic take over a couple sessions. Scheuermann was up next, laying drums and percussion, and coming in with complementary acoustic part to pick up on the implied syncopation in between Reilly’s finger picked part. Scheuermann laid an initial scratch bass part to help the track gel while they decided on how to flavor it from there.

They called in Mark Cunningham (Someday Honey, Mercy McCoy) to inject come character with a punchy Rhodes piano part, and then Woltil and Scheuermann went to town on seasoning with guitars and vocals. Woltil channeled his best McCartney into the four and six string rhythm parts, and then went full-on the Heartbreakers on the sizzling lead parts.

EW: “Working with Andrew and Stefan on the production side, I felt like my job was easy: Just enjoy embellishing a beautiful song of Josh’s knowing the various elements were in good hands. I just love the results and I think they speak for themselves — hats off to everyone on the Ybor City Records team for helping Josh bring another classic tune across the finish line.”

We couldn’t agree more.

“Every Reason I Run” hits streaming shelves Friday, March 1st, 2024, and gives us our first glimpse into a second album that we’ve all been craving, from a songwriter of which we can’t get enough.