Squirrel Flower – Cleveland
Today, Squirrel Flower, the project of beloved Chicago-based artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ella Williams, shares “Cleveland,” the final single/video from her fourth studio album, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, out this Friday via Polyvinyl Record Co.
Following “Reelin,” “Not Me” and “Sick Tooth,” “Cleveland” is yearning without being precious, winking through playful lyrics, infectious hooks, and guitar soloing by Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love). Co-written with Ella’s sibling Nate Williams, a first for the typically solo songwriter, “Cleveland” toys with a classic love story in the context of the unmoored angst held by so many young people. The song sounds luminescent and effortless, as reflected in its cinematic, daydream-like video, shot on film and edited by Jackson James.
“‘Cleveland’ is a song about choosing the city over the crush, about domesticity, about the strange magnetism of the city on Lake Erie, about the promise of the rust belt as a future site for climate migration. It’s a song I originally wrote with my family band, ‘uncommon rat.’ I asked my siblings if I could use the song on my album and they both said yes.
“The video concept came from my mom, she had the idea of me hitchhiking to Cleveland and then cutting to a dream scene of this saccharine American domestic fantasy, à la ‘Desperately Seeking Susan,’ which we saw together in theaters in February and have been obsessed with ever since.”
Spanning 2024 and 2025, the writing process for Say A Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is an account of the locations and the characters Williams encountered as she traveled across vast American biomes. Tracked live at makeshift studio Merry Meadow in Door County, WI with a cast of Chicago music heads including co-producers Seth Engel and Jack Henry, and later painstakingly refined to perfection in Asheville, NC by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Waxahatchee) at his Drop of Sun studios, Say a Prayer’s production mirrors its songwriting process.
Farrar, a producer known for a prolific indie rock sound, surprised Williams by amplifying the quietest, most delicate aspects of her music. “He was encouraging me to lean into this ethereal, yet grounded, spacious yet textured folk music that’s so true to the early days of Squirrel Flower,” Williams states. The recording captures Williams’ voice with newfound clarity; she has never sounded so much like herself. In addition to Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs) and Seth Kauffman (Angel Olsen, Floating Action), both of whom played on Williams’ 2023 album Tomorrow’s Fire, Williams enlisted a cast of friends including Giannopoulos, Sofia Jensen (Free Range), Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks), Andy Krull (Red PK), Book not Brooke (Babywave), and even family members Jameson, Jesse, and Nate Williams.
In many ways, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is about itself, about the process of its creation on the road. That isn’t to say that Say a Prayer is a travelogue. It’s more of a bittersweet testament to exploration and self possession, longing and musing. Vividly personal, it’s like a set of abandoned scrapbooks filled with ephemera, harvested from the side of the dusty freeway by some highway woman over her decades, piled up in a banker’s box in a backyard shed, tenuously protected from a desert monsoon. Past experiences lovingly chronicled, the future remains open for Williams as she hopes for a sign to help her know when to get going and when to stay still.
Squirrel Flower recently announced her first full-band headlining tour in two years, kicking off this fall.
Squirrel Flower 2026 Tour Dates
Wed. Sept. 23 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop =
Thu. Sept. 24 – Toronto, ON @ Second Summer Festival
Fri. Sept. 25 – Montreal, QC @ La Sotterenea (POP Montreal Festival)
Sat. Sept. 26 – Boston, MA @ Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre =
Sun. Sept. 27 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse =
Tue. Sept. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere – Rooftop *
Wed. Sept. 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Thu. Oct. 1 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage *
Fri. Oct. 2 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall *
Sat. Oct. 3 – Durham, NC @ Stanczyks *
Tue. Oct. 6 – Asheville, NC @ Revival *
Wed. Oct. 7 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
Thu. Oct. 8 – Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records – Blue Room *
Fri. Oct. 9 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
Sat. Oct. 10 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Turntable *
Fri. Oct. 23 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway +
Sat. Oct. 24 – Lawrence, KS @ White Schoolhouse +
Sun. Oct. 25 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge +
Tue. Oct. 27 – Dallas, TX @ Ruins +
Wed. Oct. 28 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger +
Thu. Oct. 29 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Upstairs +
Fri. Oct. 30 – Austin, TX @ 29th Street Ballroom +
Sun. Nov. 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar +
Tue. Nov. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium +
Wed. Nov. 4 – Ojai, CA @ Ojai Deer Lodge +
Thu. Nov. 5 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel +
Sat. Nov. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
Sun. Nov. 8 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall +
Mon. Nov. 9 – Olympia, WA @ Wild Child +
Wed. Nov. 11 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater +
Thu. Nov. 12 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux +
Fri. Nov. 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge +
Sun. Nov. 15 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall +
Tue. Nov. 17 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb +
Wed. Nov. 18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe +
Thu. Nov. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club +
Fri. Nov. 20 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall +
= w/ youbet
* w/ Dari Bay
+ w/ Sour Widows
#squirrelflower