Upstate New York songwriter Katie Hammon returns as Bear Grass with “Chugging Along,” the first release from her forthcoming six-song collection Distance. The track arrives, January 23 on Soundcloud. “Chugging Along” lands not with spectacle, but with purpose—setting the emotional and sonic tone for an album rooted in reflection, patience, and personal recalibration.
For nearly two decades, Bear Grass has gently haunted the upstate indie landscape, favoring intimacy over immediacy. “Chugging Along” continues that tradition, opening Distance with a piano-led meditation on forward motion when certainty feels out of reach. Written during the isolating winters of 2021–2022, the song captures a moment of internal movement.
The track is built around Hammon’s restrained vocal delivery. Soft yet assured, Hammon’s voice carries melodies that rise just enough to lift the listener before settling back into stillness. There’s a quiet insistence to “Chugging Along.” It’s the sound of choosing to keep going, even when the path ahead remains indistinct.
Like much of Distance, the song was shaped by a period of significant life change. Hammon stepped away from a former career, relocated to the countryside, and co-founded an intimate venue for weddings and experiential gatherings. That shift created the space that ultimately brought Bear Grass back into focus. This time as Hammon’s singular voice rather than a full-band project.
“Chugging Along” also introduces the album’s tactile intimacy. The song belongs to the piano-rooted first half of Distance, written on Hammon’s ancestral red 1890s upright piano—an instrument carried across generations and geography before landing in her New York home. That lineage is audible in the track’s grounding presence, anchoring personal reflection in something enduring.
Mixed by Ben Roth (Car Seat Headrest, Oberhofer, Akira Galaxy), “Chugging Along” balances lo-fi closeness with subtle cinematic space, allowing the song’s emotional core to breathe. It’s a fitting first step into Distance: emotionally precise, quietly courageous, and unafraid to move forward at its own pace.
Distance will roll out gradually throughout 2026, with each track arriving every six weeks. The official music video for “Chugging Along” premieres February 17. Stream the song here.
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