Premiere: Erin Lunsford Tells A Story Of Distance And Home On “Watch Out For Deer”
“Home is where the heart is,” or so the saying goes. But what happens when the heart yearns for somewhere else? Life moves us in all directions, often far past our origins. Even those who stay rooted in their hometowns eventually feel a distance, created by loss, career paths, or choices that seem personal but often fall at the feet of fate. What is the other saying? “Fate is a cruel mistress.” In this regard, it earns the title, stripping us of control over the most sacred part of our lives: the people who raised us and the place we still call home.
While the concept of family is honored around the world, in rural America it carries a distinct weight, shaped by wide-open landscapes, generations living nearby, and family gatherings that feel more like routine than rare events. So embedded in the fabric of daily life, family can almost fade into the background… that is until you leave. Then, the simplest greetings and farewells take on new meaning, suddenly heavy with emotion. Even when wrapped in well-worn phrases and casual tones, they hold a depth of love passed down through generations: quiet, steadfast, and profoundly personal in a world that often feels anything but.
“Watch Out For Deer,” the new single from Richmond songbird Erin Lunsford, dives into the quiet power of everyday goodbyes, turning a familiar Southern phrase into a moving reflection on what it means to leave home… and the love you leave behind. Set for release on Friday, June 20th, the song serves as both a deeply personal snapshot and a deeply relatable rumination on the emotional weight of distance. With a rich blend of Appalachian instrumentation and heartfelt lyricism, Lunsford captures the beauty and ache tucked inside even the most routine farewells, romanticizing the mundane with sincere affection and rousing admiration. Today, The Auricular is proud to premiere this touching new track ahead of its official release, offering an exclusive stream below along with a closer look at the inspiration that brought it to life.
“Watch Out For Deer” tells the tale of a nighttime drive back to Richmond from Southwest Virginia, filled with homesick tears and lingering heartache over a diminishing amount of time with loved ones at home. “There is so much comfort in returning home,” Erin Lunsford said about the song, “so much pain in driving away, and many mixed emotions of feeling my identity bloom in a new city, hours away from where I grew up.
Carried by soothing instrumentation and Lunsford’s majestic voice, the song traverses a full range of emotions: grief over the space that separates loved ones, gratitude for the enduring love they give, and a quiet frustration with time itself, which never seems to slow when it matters most. “I just got here, but I never left\ I’m not ready to go, I’m not ready yet,” she sings in the build-up to the affecting chorus, capturing the tender, conflicted core of the song: a sore reminder that even the things that feel essential to who we are can’t always be held onto, no matter how tightly we cling.
Both towering and intimate, much like the loved ones who shape our lives in quiet, monumental ways, “Watch Out For Deer” is a stunning example of everything that makes Erin Lunsford a cornerstone of Virginia’s music scene. Her commanding voice carries the weight of memory and emotion with ease, while her refined musical instincts create a sonic landscape steeped in rural grace and understated brilliance. Lyrically, Lunsford pens a story that resonates with anyone who’s felt the ache of growing distance within a family that still holds tight, refusing to fracture despite the circumstances. “Press my eyes together to keep composure\ It comes in waves and the waves knock me over,” she sings on the swelling bridge, echoing the emotional climb of a late-night drive, one that leads to the hazy border between where your heart longs to stay and where life insists you go.
Inspired by a routine farewell, her father calling out “be safe, watch out for deer,” as Lunsford packed her car after a family gathering in Botetourt County, the song turns a common Southern phrase into a powerful symbol of love and longing. “In the south, it’s the thing you say to wish your loved ones safe travels and to remind them of the dangers of the road at night,” Lunsford explained. “I had heard my family say this phrase a million times, but driving away from the family gathering that day with all my relatives still inside the house, I felt the weight of my decision to live so far away and make my life in a new city.”
A recent loss made the heavy feelings even sharper and more raw as she traveled down the road, stirring a deep urge to hold onto these fleeting moments. “My granddaddy had passed away the fall before this visit,” Lunsford continued, “so everything was feeling more tender than usual for this trip home and I just wanted to soak it in. Every opportunity I get to spend time with my family, I will take.”
This feeling comes to life in the soaring first line of the chorus, “Never feels like I’ve got enough time,” casting the entire song in a soft, aching light. It’s not simply about the act of leaving; it’s about recognizing that home is no longer just a location, but a moment in time. A collection of hugs, shared meals, and familiar voices slipping back into silence. The deeper that realization sinks in, the more those memories linger, stretching across the distance until the next reunion full of warm embraces and concluded with another endearing “watch out for deer” farewell.
“My identity is so tied to my family, and I love writing about my Virginia roots,” Lunsford said. “So I will take any opportunity I have to sing about my family ties and my love for Appalachia. I miss the mountains and the hollers of southwest Virginia all the time, but mostly I miss my family and singing about them makes me feel closer in my mind and heart. I feel most like myself when I’m making music and honoring the traditions of bluegrass music through my writing.”
Lunsford pays tribute to her roots by performing the song on clawhammer banjo, an instrument she formally studied in college but first picked up as a child under the guidance of her Papa. That connection to family carries through the lyrics as well, particularly in the line “But I’ll never forget your hands\ Stitching up the blanket,” a nod to learning how to crochet from her granny. These traditions are part of a broader cultural fabric in Appalachia where skills and stories are passed down side by side. These familial details deepen the emotional texture of the song, grounding its universal themes of homesickness and belonging in genuine and intimate moments.
There’s a reverence in the way Lunsford sings about these traditions. Here, they exist not as quaint relics, but as living parts of her identity. Whether it’s the banjo filling the air with familiar sounds or the image of a blanket stitched with care, each element underscores the song’s central idea: that the ordinary things we inherit often become the most sacred. In singing about them, Lunsford bridges the miles between where she is and where she came from, and in doing so, invites listeners to reflect on the phrases, objects, and gestures that carry their own histories of love.
“Watch Out For Deer” is Erin Lunsford’s first solo release since her 2020 album, The Damsel. Dropped just weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, The Damsel quickly became a source of comfort for listeners in anxious times, offering warmth through Lunsford’s rich voice, heartfelt lyrics, and folksy instrumentation. Songs like “How Many Birds,” “Virginia Brother,” “Neighbor’s Eye,” and the banjo-led “27 Summers Down” stood out as poignant reflections on identity, family, and place, qualities that ring strongly through this new single. In the years since that album, Lunsford has continued to perform steadily as a solo artist, keeping new material reserved for live sets and social media clips, ranging from informal work-in-progress songs like the fiddle LGBTQIA anthem “Theys & Thems” to more polished offerings like her yearly NPR Tiny Desk submissions, which include stand-out compositions “All Dolled Up,” “Crossing Belvidere,” and “Everybody Else.”
In addition to her solo work, Lunsford has stayed active with her band Erin & The Wildfire, releasing the acclaimed album Touchy Feely in 2022, a record that resonated with both critics and fans alike, earning a nomination for the 2023 Newlin Music Prize. Since that record, the band has shifted toward a steady stream of singles, beginning with “Love Songs To Georgia” in early 2024, followed by “Lightning So Blue,” “Shapes In The Cloud,” “Everybody Else,” and “I Wanna Feel It.” The latter two arrived in 2025 during an ambitious First Fridays residency at The Camel, where the band has been curating a year-long series of performances, each with different supporting acts and unique setlists, to deliver twelve distinct live experiences for their audience.
“Watch Out For Deer” is just the beginning of a new chapter in Erin Lunsford’s solo catalog, with more music slated for release in 2025. To celebrate, Lunsford is hosting a special hometown performance on Friday, June 20 at Révéler Experiences in Carytown, a concert that has, at the time of publishing, already sold out, though a limited number of tickets may be available at the door. She’ll be joined by fellow Richmond singer-songwriter Caroline Vain, making for an evening rooted deeply in storytelling and Southern expression. Lunsford is also taking this performance to new creative heights by collaborating with Richmond-based visual artist and HearRVA creative director Rian Moses-Hedrick. Together, they’ve crafted an immersive stage experience featuring original set pieces inspired by Lunsford’s lyrics and Appalachian heritage.
“The artwork features native Virginia plants, animals, and imagery from my lyrics,” Lunsford shared. “I’m trying to keep my family’s traditions and stories alive through my songwriting, and Rian ran with that idea—creating something truly beautiful using a paper collage medium that’s also part of her own family’s tradition. It’s a tribute to where we come from, in more ways than one.”
That tribute will help Lunsford capture the emotional complexity of her newest song, opening the door to both her heart and history by telling a story that’s as personal as it is widely felt. It’s a love letter to family, to the places that raise us, and to the rituals, spoken and unspoken, that tether us to where come from. Through reverent storytelling and sensational musicianship, Lunsford shares a living piece of her legacy, one that continues to unfold, beautifully and authentically, with every new release.
“Watch Out For Deer” will be released on Friday, June 20th, accompanied by a special release concert that evening at Révéler Experiences, featuring Caroline Vain. For more information on the show, click here.
To stay up-to-date on future releases and announcements from Erin Lunsford, be sure to bookmark her website and follow her on social media, as well as her band, Erin & The Wildfire.
