Joan Shelley has long factored place into her recordings. For her self-titled album (2017) she landed in Chicago, at The Loft with Jeff Tweedy producing. In 2019 she went to Iceland, bringing along collaborators Nathan Salsburg and James Elkingtonto make Like The River Loves The Sea. The pandemic kept her close to home in Kentucky for The Spur (2022), but as a new batch of songs began to take shape in late 2024—and as Shelley and her family began settling into their new home in Michigan—she began searching for a place where she could record in the company of talented friends.

Enter Ben Whiteley, bassist for The Weather Station and Jake Xerxes Fussell, who engineered the snowy sessions that became Real Warmth at Casa Wroxton in Toronto.

According to Whiteley “we had a few windows in mid-winter and it really felt like there was an urgency to capture a moment in time with these songs, performances, people involved, and against the political backdrop. The record really feels like a capture instead of a meticulous construction. Part of Joan’s concept was not only to go to a place but to draw on the community of musicians from that place.”

Those community musicians include drummer Philippe Melanson, saxophonist Karen Ng, singer/songwriters Doug Paisley and Tamara Lindeman, Matt Kelley, and Ken Whiteley. Joan’s partner, guitarist Nathan Salsburg, also appears. Toronto artist Heather Goodchild designed and painted the cover and inner sleeve.

Event preorders for store pickup will be held for three months after the event date. Please pick up your preordered copy of Real Warmth no later than December 16th, 2025.