Nashville-based outlaw country siren, India Ramey, has unveiled “The Mountain,” the latest from her forthcoming LP, Baptized By The Blaze, out on August 23rd via Mule Kick Records. One of the most powerful songs, on the album, “The Mountain” was inspired by Ramey’s work to heal the trauma caused by repeatedly witnessing domestic violence in her childhood home. During this journey, she learned that the healing process is not a linear one; “The Mountain” acknowledges that we can stand tall amidst life’s avalanches.
“The Mountain” follows the album’s fiery, phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes title track and its Robert Rodriguez-meets-Quentin Tarantino-style video, and “Ain’t My First Rodeo,” a song about narcissistic energy vampires. The song’s tongue-in-cheek video pays homage to Ramey’s love of classic and B-movie horror.
After the release of her acclaimed 2020 LP, Shallow Graves, trouble was stirring back at home. Ramey had been taking Klonopin for 12 years, relying on daily doses of the tranquilizer to manage a panic disorder that stemmed from the trauma she experienced during her childhood. “I’d been running from my trauma my entire life,” admits Ramey. “I even tried to heal my trauma by working as a domestic violence prosecutor. That didn’t work, and Klonopin became my way of numbing it out.” Reeling from the dark tolls of the drug, Ramey checked herself into a rehab facility one day after the release show for Shallow Graves. While on this journey of healing and self-reckoning, she cast the full spectrum of those emotions into new songs. The result is Baptized By The Blaze, Ramey’s chronicle of her walk through hell and deliverance from the flames.
Written entirely by Ramey and produced by Luke Wooten (The SteelDrivers, Jim Lauderdale, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley), Baptized By The Blaze presents the sharpest version yet of Ramey’s unique sound. It’s a cinematic mix of spaghetti western landscapes, Americana-noire arrangements, and classic country influences, all glued together by a frontwoman who’s never sounded prouder of her honky-tonk roots. Joining her are a murderer’s row of all-star instrumentalists — including Tommy Hardin, Alyson Prestwood, Scotty Sanders, and James Mitchell, all of whom recorded their parts in a single day — who lace the songs with Telecaster chicken-pickin’, woozy pedal steel, and Appalachian attitude. Potent and punchy, Baptized By The Blaze is every bit as fiery as its title suggests.
On an album that pays homage to the outlaws and honky-tonk angels who came before her, Baptized By The Blaze is still unmistakably the work of India Ramey. She’s always written about pain and trauma, but here, she exorcises those inner demons without apology, turning her personal story into a universal message of liberation and self-empowerment.
Baptized By The Blaze is available for pre-save and pre-order HERE. Ramey will celebrate the album’s release with a show at The ‘58 in Nashville, featuring support from The Serpenteens and Lance Whalen. Click HERE for tickets and show information. Be sure to follow India Ramey at the links below for the latest news, tour dates, and updates.
You can connect with India Ramey through website indiaramey.com, Facebook @India Ramey, Instagram @indiarameymusic, YouTube @irameyvid, X @indiaramey, Spotify @India Ramey, and TikTok