Eighteen Mile releases debut single, “Above The Clouds”

Newly signed to Mountain Home Music Company, bluegrass gospel quintet Eighteen Mile took shape when young musicians performing in the ministry-supporting Steve Pettit Band felt called to seek their own professional path after wrapping up an album with producer Andy Leftwich, who recommended them to the label’s attention. For their debut Mountain Home single, the group presents “Above the Clouds,” a gently flowing meditation on the blessing of assurance.

“I wrote ‘Above the Clouds’ during a season when I was wrestling with uncertainty and learning to trust God more deeply,” says the song’s lead vocalist and Eighteen Mile bassist, Hallie Ritter. “The song became a reminder to myself that no matter what we face — doubt, anxiety, or pain — God is steady and present above it all. I wanted the music to feel hopeful, something that lifts listeners up and reminds them that the sun still shines above every storm.”

Bandmates Carson Aaron (guitar, mandolin) and Emily Guy complement Ritter’s confident voice on the chorus’s elegantly phrased simplicity:

This old world can’t hold me down; I’ve got another life I’ve found

And a greater God

This old rain can’t change my mind; I know the sun will always shine

Above the clouds

Eighteen Mile’s other multi-instrumentalist, Jack Ritter, offers some delicate guitar picking that underlines the tranquillity of that other life, while fiddler Savannah Aaron delivers the arrangement’s signature figure that punctuates the song from beginning to end. The combination of vocal strength, sympathetic instrumental work and well-crafted writing exemplified by “Above the Clouds” make Eighteen Mile artists to watch — and to listen to.

Says the group, “We hope this song is an encouragement to listeners in all areas of life who may be dealing with clouds of doubt, pain, and anxieties. The sun will always shine above the clouds.”

“Above the Clouds” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL.