Runaway June

Runaway June blends the energetic drive and polished vocal blends of a contemporary country trio with sleek pop sensibilities and rustic instrumental flavors. Their material offers fresh perspectives on familiar subjects such as kinship, relationships, and weekend revelry, while mandolins, fiddles, and acoustic guitars anchor the sound in longstanding Nashville conventions. The act achieved its initial chart success via the 2018 single “Buy My Own Drinks,” followed by the well-received debut album Blue Roses in 2019; the 2021 EP Backstory then introduced listeners to an altered roster, a process repeated when the 2023 single “Make Me Wanna Smoke” arrived after another membership shift.

The group came together in 2015. Its original lineup featured Naomi Cooke handling lead vocals and guitar, Hannah Mulholland on mandolin and vocals, and Jennifer Wayne on guitar and vocals. Cooke grew up among eleven siblings in an Amish farming community, while Mulholland, a Malibu native, pursues visual art and maintains a cooking blog outside of music. Wayne, granddaughter of Hollywood icon John Wayne, previously appeared on the reality series The Amazing Race and performed with Stealing Angels. Their collaboration began in January 2016 after Rob Hatch of Wheelhouse Records caught Cooke at a showcase and proposed songwriting sessions with Wayne, who had already been writing with Mulholland. The three clicked immediately, prompting Hatch to sign them to the label and book studio time. Their debut single, “Lipstick,” appeared in May 2016 and climbed to number 28 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. The 2017 release “Wild West” followed, appearing on their self-titled debut EP and reaching number 36 on the same chart.

“Buy My Own Drinks” delivered the trio’s first Country Airplay Top 20 placement at number 18 in 2018 and paved the way for Blue Roses, issued in June 2019. To promote the album, Runaway June opened for Carrie Underwood on her Cry Pretty Tour 360, and the song’s video earned a nomination for Breakout Video of the Year at the 2019 CMT Music Awards. Hannah Mulholland departed in 2020; Natalie Stovall, formerly frontwoman of Natalie Stovall & the Drive, stepped in on vocals and fiddle. The updated configuration introduced itself with the 2020 single “We Were Rich,” a re-recording from Blue Roses, and later that year issued the five-song holiday EP When I Think About Christmas. In 2021 the three-song EP Backstory arrived, spotlighting the single “T-Shirt.”

Naomi Cooke exited in early 2022 to pursue solo work. Stevie Woodward assumed lead vocals in April 2022, and the following year the group left Wheelhouse Records for Quartz Hill Records. Their first Quartz Hill single, “Make Me Wanna Smoke,” surfaced in 2023 and was succeeded in early 2024 by “Smoke, Wine & Whiskey.” The trio added the track “Put a Smile On” to the 2024 children’s collection Growin’ Up Country, Vol. 2. By the close of 2024 they had released two further singles, “New Kind of Emotion” and “He Ain’t My Problem,” along with holiday offerings that included a fresh reading of the classic “Mary, Did You Know?” and the original “Santa, Send Your Reindeer.”