Bonnie Montgomery & Melissa Carper – Rather Have Love
Today, singer-songcrafters Bonnie Montgomery and Melissa Carper share their new duet “Rather Have Love,” a timeless country love song between two women that gently expands the tradition it comes from, out via Mae Music.
When Montgomery and Carper sat down to write together in the spring of 2025, trading lyrics on a front porch in Wimberley, Texas, they were chasing a good song, but ended up making a statement. Montgomery had already begun the track when she invited Carper to help finish it; by the end of the evening, the two had it written, and soon after stepped into Kevin Skrla’s Wolfe Island studio to capture the performance while the spark was still fresh. The result is a tender duet built on the easy chemistry of two artists who share a deep reverence for country music’s storytelling tradition. Montgomery, Carper, Skrla, and fellow artist and frequent collaborator Brennen Leigh all share co-producing credit on the track.
On “Rather Have Love,” Montgomery’s clear-eyed songwriting and Carper’s warm, unhurried delivery create something that feels both familiar and quietly radical. Rooted in classic country tradition, the song unfolds with easy devotion, choosing love over judgment, and presence over pretense.
Raised in White County, Arkansas, Bonnie Montgomery has built a reputation as a fearless creative nomad whose work spans polished parlor songs, operatic compositions, and barn-burning country anthems. Armed with a poet’s phrasing, a soprano’s crystalline timbre, and a revolutionary spirit, Montgomery’s repertoire travels wherever it pleases: from high romantic ballads swaddled in strings to fiery anthems of dissent and cinematic, spaghetti-western vignettes. Her work has been praised by Paste, The New Yorker, and more, and fellow outlaw country icon Dale Watson once called her “a sophisticated badass who was born to sing.” She has received multiple Arkansas Country Music Awards, including 2020 Entertainer of the Year, and has shared stages with Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Shovels & Rope, and more.
Austin-based Melissa Carper, meanwhile, has become one of roots music’s most beloved modern traditionalists. Dubbed “HillBillie Holiday” by collaborator Chris Scruggs, Carper blends jazz-inflected phrasing, classic country influences, and a deep reverence for songcraft that feels lifted from another era. Her acclaimed albums Daddy’s Country Gold (2021) and Ramblin’ Soul (2022) introduced a wider audience to her singular style, while 2024’s Borned In Ya further cemented her reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in roots music today. In 2025, she continued that momentum with a holiday release that earned coverage in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Austin Chronicle, and more, alongside her collaborative duet album Havin’ a Talk with Theo Lawrence via Warner Records.
TOUR DATES (more TBA)
March 21 – Saxon Pub – Austin, TX – single release party
May 9 – Red Bird Listening Room – New Braunfels, TX
July 10 – Rock Box – Fredericksburg, TX
July 11 – Old Quarter – Galveston,TX
#bonniemontgomery #melissacarpermusic