Coming off of a big 2023, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Skip Ewing is releasing a brand new single this week, and PopCulture.com has the track’s exclusive premiere. Titled “Windmill,” the song is a heartfelt reflection on life, and the good and bad that comes with it. Check it out below!
“Between the little towns of Crowheart and Kinnear, Wyoming, there’s a lone windmill, a silent sentinel in the sagebrush,” Ewing said of the song. “I was taken by all of the elements that may have led to its presence there. What came to my mind was a powerful metaphor. As I wrote, I realized that along my own somewhat turbulent journey I had been that windmill. I had also been the wind.”
“I know how both of their hearts ache. I respect the windmill for its stoicism, devotion, and vulnerability,” Ewing continued. “Yet, I have compassion for the wind. The energy is powerful when they meet, and empty for them both when the wind moves on.”
Ewing is an acclaimed singer-songwriter whose songs were recorded by Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band, George Strait, Keb Mo, Kenny Rogers, and Willie Nelson, among others. In addition to premiering his new song, Pop Culture also had a chance to chat with Ewing about his career, and he opened up about how his songwriting process has evolved over his three decades in the music industry.
“I was a kid just out of high school when I came to Nashville. All I knew about songwriting was what I’d heard on recordings like James Taylor and Merle Haggard. Anything else was just searching my heart and utilizing whatever musical knowledge I’d gained from singing and playing since I was 4 years old.”
“Once my songs began to be noticed and I signed a publishing deal, writing became all about trying to make my publisher and record executives happy by writing what they believed would make the most money,” he continued. “I learned from everyone I could, everyone I wrote with. I had quite a bit of success doing that, but over time I felt as if it was eroding my artistic soul in a way. The truth of it is, I never set out to be a songwriter or a country star. That’s just who and what I was: a songwriter and an artist. For me they’re inseparable. I followed my heart and my passion for expressing myself in ways I hoped would move people. It was the people that mattered. It still is.”
Ewing went on to explain, “The root of the process for me is genuinely connecting with other humans. We’re all on similar journeys. I believe ideas, images, and stories that illuminate where we are most similar, most authentically human, those are the vital spaces. That is why I’m so moved to open this new chapter in my recording and writing career. I sold everything and left Nashville to study horsemanship. It was a spiritual journey that beckoned me to dig deeper into myself than I ever had.”
“What I learned about myself from horses was inspirational and pivotal to all my relationships,” he added. “That includes my relationship to my music and writing as well as my personal relationships, compassion, and gratitude for the listeners I’m blessed to have. I simply write and sing the best songs I possibly can about what I believe powerfully resonates in the hearts of those who listen.
The singer then shared, “For the most part now, I also write alone. I strive to write lyrics with depth and poeticism. If I believe it’s true and powerful, I don’t edit it out. Kyle Lehning and I are making these new records the same way. The music and lyrics sometimes just take us where they want to go. Joyous, heartbroken, hopeful, and sometimes lost, all of the places we feel connected to being human… that’s the journey.
One recent big moment for Ewing came when Lainey Wilson covered his song “I Would If I Could” for Apple Music’s Lost & Found project. Reacting to the cover, Ewing said that he finds Wilson to be “fantastic, authentic, and genuinely deserving of the success she’s garnering,” adding, “I was, and am, honored that she recorded.”
He then revealed some huge news, saying that he “just found out that ERNEST is including another version of it on his new album,” which will feature Wilson, that he “can’t wait to hear.”
Finally, we asked Ewing if — in reflection of his illustrious career — there was anything he would tell his younger self if he could. “If I’d known then what I know now and told my younger self about the music business, I probably wouldn’t have chosen that route,” he said candidly. “That’s just being honest.”
Ewing continued, “It’s brutal and ugly in more ways than most will tell you. Nevertheless, (even with what I know now) the fact that there’s finally a real chance to share my authentic self with people who connect with the new music we’re making is a fire that burns in the belly of what I believe I can positively contribute with my life’s breaths. If you’re reading this, and are kind enough to be one of those listeners-thank you! You’re the reason I do this. The reason we all do this.”
“If I’m not breaking the rules, I’m at least endeavoring to re-write them,” he concluded. “In a way, I suppose coloring outside the lines should be part of any authentic artistic journey. After all… who drew the lines?”