Acoustic Band of Dominican Friars Unveils New Folk Album Out July 26
The Hillbilly Thomists - a band of Dominican friars from the Order of Preachers, whose eponymous debut album reached #3 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart - will release its fourth studio album, Marigold, on July 26. Marigold’s debut track “Justify You” is out now.
Written and recorded in a Catskill Mountains cabin, the 13-track folk record explores the highs and lows of life, from prayer and confession to holy orders and outlaw living, and was sonically influenced by the stylings of artists including Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, The Rolling Stones, Wilco, and Gillian Welch. Continuing to reflect the vivid, Southern landscape of the band’s unofficial patron, Flannery O’Connor (who coined the phrase “hillbilly Thomist”), the friars constructed an album that is simultaneously old and new, mixing a traditional style with lyrical themes that speak to the enduring trials and triumphs of modern existence.
The band says, "From images of barroom saints to minor prophets, this is an album about grace and sin, rolling on and getting through, hope amidst suffering, and our enduring confidence in providence."
Marigold follows the group’s third studio album Holy Ghost Power (2022), which spent time on the Billboard Bluegrass chart and Amazon’s Best Sellers list, and saw The Hillbilly Thomists embark on an eight-city tour with stops in NYC, Cleveland, and Nashville, where the friars made their Grand Ole Opry debut.
