Photo: FORD FAIRCHILD
Runaway June unleashed their latest anthem, fusing elements from other genres to get an epic track that’s unlike any the trio has released before. They kicked off the weekend with “Make Me Wanna Smoke” on Friday (May 19).
Penned by Jason Sellers, Bobby Hamrick and Ella Langley, “Make Me Wanna Smoke” offers up rock elements blended with the group’s traditional country sound. It was produced by Mickey Jack Cones. Runaway June — made up of Stevie Woodward, Natalie Stovall and Jennifer Wayne — recently appeared on The Bobby Bones Show and dished a bout the then-unreleased song.
“This is a total different vibe than what we’ve done in the past,” Woodward, the latest addition to the group, told Bobby Bones. “It’s really exciting. It’s very edgy, (there are) more rock elements, and we’re really excited about it. We got pitched the song (by) one of the writers, Jason Sellers. He is just a phenomenal writer, and we heard it and instantly we’re like, ‘we are cutting this song.’ ...Me and Natalie are more of the rock chicks and we’re slowly bringing Jen to the dark side.”
Wayne said with a laugh that her bandmates are “making me cooler,” and Woodward expressed her appreciation that “Make Me Wanna Smoke” “has a really cool way of incorporating all of our styles into it, so we’re really excited about it.
“We did have the conversation (about releasing a smoking song), she added later. “I think you gotta kinda take some risks if you wanna be a little different and stand out. All three of us, whether or not that’s really true for us… sometimes when you’re delivering a song you have to take on a different character.”
“Make Me Wanna Smoke” is the latest release from Runaway June, following “Broken Hearts (Do Broken Things),” and career-spanning fan-favorites like “Buy My Own Drinks” — which Runaway June performed on Thursday night (May 18) as a surprise guest at Caroline Jones’ headlining show at the historic EXIT/IN in Nashville, Tennessee — “Lipstick” and more. Listen to “Make Me Wanna Smoke” here: