Ramona and the Holy Smokes WSG Wes Shipp

In an era where authenticity in country music feels increasingly rare, Ramona and the Holy Smokes deliver a masterclass in genuine honky tonk with their upcoming EP Til It's Over, set for release on November 22, 2024. Fronted by Charlottesville, Virginia's Ramona Martinez, whose songwriting has earned her recognition from Wide Open Country as one of the "15 Latino Artists Shaping Country Music," the band crafts pre-1964 country that feels both classic and vitally current.

Martinez channels the spirit of the golden-age country through a thoroughly modern lens. The Holy Smokes aren't playing dress-up – they're breathing new life into time-tested formulas with arrangements that showcase both technical mastery and emotional depth.

Recorded at Richmond's legendary Spacebomb Studio, Til It's Over spans the breadth of classic country styles while maintaining a cohesive sound. The EP kicks off with "I Want You to Be My Man," a train-beat banger co-written with Maddie Mae Martin that perfectly captures the thrilling anticipation of new love. The track's clever progression from "I wanna take you to the movies" to "When we hit the road, dear, you can drive the van" showcases Martinez's gift for incorporating her life as a musician into relatable love songs.

The Neil Young-influenced "Dear Avery" demonstrates the band's range, building from intimate verses to a lush, full-band arrangement featuring Jeffrey Miller's (Dogwood Brothers) masterful piano work. Producer Kai Crowe-Getty (Lord Nelson) and engineer Alex De Jong capture the band's live energy, while subtle touches of analog warmth add to the EP’s classic sound. 

Perhaps the EP's most striking moment comes with "I Love Smoking," a defiantly honest ode to addiction that manages to be both humorous and profound. "It reminds me/Breathe the good life in/Treasure every moment/Treasure every sin," Martinez sings, before promising to "smoke with Jesus/Puffin' in the sky." The title track rounds out the collection with a heart-wrenching exploration of relationship limbo, transformed from a ballad into an infectious shuffle by the Holy Smokes' stellar lineup of Kyle Lawton Kilduff (guitars), Brooks Hefner (pedal steel), Jay Ouypron (bass), and Porter Bralley (drums).

Martinez's path to country music was anything but traditional. Before channeling the Honky Tonk Angels (her term for the celestial source of her songwriting inspiration), she worked in radio production and created religious iconography as a visual artist. In 2021, during a stay at a Maine cabin, she experienced a creative awakening that led to writing 21 original songs in just over a year.

"I joke that if you've had your heart broken enough times, you're actually obligated to become a country singer," Martinez quips. Her influences range from George Jones and Patsy Cline to more surprising sources like Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, whom she discovered through a sympathetic computer science teacher during lonely middle school lunch breaks.

With Til It's Over serving as a pristine calling card, Ramona and the Holy Smokes are poised for an exciting 2025. The band is currently working on their debut full-length album, which will incorporate Martinez's Mexican-American heritage through original Spanish-language material and "Mexitonk" – their unique fusion of mariachi and country western styles. Until then, catch them expanding their touring radius throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the South, and New England, converting skeptics into true believers one honky tonk at a time.

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