Ramirezs most adventurous album to date but a record that captures the mood of the country in
its music as well as in its lyrics. : Being half white and half Mexican has made this current
political climate especially interesting. So many cultures in this country are being viewed as
un-American and it breaks my heart. This is the first album Ive had properly produced says
Ramirez who either produced or co-produced all of his previous efforts. For Were Not Going
Anywhere he hired Sam Kassirer who has helmed albums by Josh Ritter Lake Street Dive Bhi
Bhiman and many other artists. I needed to evolve and change things up a bit which is why I
chose Sam. He pushed me in a way I hadnt been pushed before. Kassirer challenged Ramirez to
simultaneously simplify and complicate his songwriting to find new ways to tell his stories
and make a band record. In January 2017 Ramirez and his band decamped to the Great North Sound
Society an eighteenth-century farmhouse in rural Maine that serves as Kassirers studio.
Especially in the winter when the trees are bare and snow blankets the ground the setting
proved inspiring. Its very secluded which was part of the appeal. We were able to get out of
our touring headspace and stay completely involved with the record and what we were doing.
