Bartees Strange: The Loft at City Winery 2025

Bartees Strange set a notable day to release his new album, Horror: Valentine's Day. But rather than a love-struck (or brokenhearted) series of songs, Strange says that this album is about confronting his own fears. In the run-up to the album, Strange has said that as a young, queer Black person growing up in rural Oklahoma, those fears were myriad. However, by watching scary movies, and steering his way through that visual horror, Strange felt stronger.

In a live performance for FUV at The Loft at City Winery, Strange — who is an exceptionally deft guitarist as well as a singer and songwriter — played a fearless set that included two tracks from Horror — "Sober" and "17," joined by guitarist Daniel Kleederman and keyboardist Graham Richman. Watch videos of both of those songs below.

[Recorded: 12/11/24; Engineered by Jim O'Hara, produced by Meghan Offtermatt. Videographers: Therese Burgo, Adithi Vimalanathan, Bella Lipayon, and Alena Godas.]