Patterson Hood explores haunted histories with ‘The Forks of Cypress’
Featuring Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, Patterson Hood has released ‘The Forks of Cypress,’ the latest single from his upcoming solo album, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, due out February 21 via ATO Records.
Rooted in Southern gothic storytelling, ‘The Forks of Cypress’ takes inspiration from a real location just north of Florence—an antebellum plantation house struck by lightning in 1966 and burned to the ground, leaving only a haunting arrangement of columns. Hood crafts a fictionalized narrative around the site. The song’s warm instrumentation, featuring contributions from Phil and Brad Cook, Dan Hunt, and Kevin Morby, adds to its timeless quality, balancing eerie nostalgia with rich musical textures. Crutchfield’s harmonies bring an extra layer of depth, making the song feel intimate and expansive.
Patterson Hood says of the track:
“The Forks of Cypress a real place, a few miles just north of my hometown of Florence, Alabama. A former plantation house, once owned by a cousin of Andrew Jackson, it was struck by a ‘lightning cluster’ in 1966 – when I was two – and exploded into flames, burning to the ground in under five minutes.
“I wrote the song as pure fiction, inspired by those great story songs that Bobbie Gentry did, an ‘Ode to Billie Joe,’ etc., where she implies a story without really telling it. In my head, I heard Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) singing it with me and was blessed that she was willing to do so. She’s one of my very favorite artists, and such a lovely person.”
With ‘The Forks of Cypress,’ Hood showcases his ability to weave history, memory, and myth into a deeply affecting piece of songwriting.
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