Given that Vermont-based singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell has one of the best voices around today and her 2010 Hadestown cut “Wait For Me” (featuring Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and the Low Anthem’s Ben Knox Miller, among others) was one of our favorite songs of that year, anticipation has been running high around here for her follow-up. Now Mitchell’s fourth record, Young Man in America, is set to arrive in just one month and we have a first taste of what’s to come in the form of “Shepherd,” an incredibly promising, allegorical cut with welcome shades of Righteous Babe Records leader Ani DiFranco — a fitting connection given the LP’s producer was their mutual collaborator, multi-talented Brooklyn-based musician Todd Sickafoose.
Among a host of notable guests, Young Man in America includes performances by drummer Kenny Wollesen — whom we saw perform a thrilling set with Marc Ribot last year — and the great Punch brothers singer/mandolin master Chris Thile. The full LP arrives on February 28 via Wilderland Records and Thirty Tigers, but today you can get ready for what’s sure to be a highlight of 2012 with “Shepherd” below: