Sierra Spirit – Can’t Be Friends
On June 10 Sierra Spirit, the solo project of Native American artist Sierra Spirit Kihega, will drop her new EP, Rodeo Clown via Giant Music.
Today she shares new single“Can’t Be Friends” which finds her weaving subtle Americana influences into her hazy indie sound as she leans into what she describes as being “the queen of grudge holding.”
She further explains “‘Can’t Be Friends’ is about realizing that the classic ‘I hope we can still be friends’ after a breakup NEVER works out – but that’s a lesson that can only be learned from first hand experience no matter how hard you try to convince your friends to ditch their ex.”
Rodeo Clown was produced by Dan Wilson (Mitski, The Chicks) and Sierra previously shared the emotionally charged title track and the EP’s “Lift A Finger” which rides a folk rock soar in the vein of Phoebe Bridgers or Big Thief. In addition to gearing up for the release of Rodeo Clown, Spirit has also contributed vocals to the original score for the Octavia Spencer-produced Lost Women of Alaska, currently airing on HBO Max. The series highlights the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples in Alaska, particularly Alaska Native women.
Throughout Rodeo Clown, Sierra blends country, folk, and indie influences into songs rooted in memory and identity. Driving long hours through the middle of America, time seems to evaporate, nebulous spaces where memories flit up to the surface and fill the present. Sierra Spirit knows those stretches of land intimately, as if they live in her blood. Some of her favorite memories tie back to long car trips with her grandmother, listening to stories about her Native American heritage. “We would listen to music, and my grandma loved the old country stations,” she says. “But what really stuck with me were the stories, the history, the connection.” For her new EP, Rodeo Clown, Sierra Spirit tapped into all of the timeless depth of her heritage, and of those car rides: honoring her attachment to Indigenous culture and blending classic country and folk with soaring indie songwriting. “Oral history is such a huge part of Indigenous culture, and I wanted to paint the picture in as much detail as I can,” she explains. “Songwriting for me is a lot about finding closure for moments in my past and making it into something beautiful and meaningful.”
Sierra Spirit channels both the ache and the awe of remembering—songs and stories bigger than Spirit herself, bigger than the people and moments that inspired them. Like a car ride through the great wide open, Rodeo Clown is tender yet unrelenting, bridging the past and the present, the highest highs and lowest lows. With each note, Spirit transforms memory into motion and pain into something luminous in a voice destined to echo far beyond the horizon.
Sierra will be playing songs off Rodeo Clown and her debut EP Coin Toss at a June 11 show at LA’s School Night at Airliner Bar (2419 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90031). Tickets are free for 21+ and $10 for under 21
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