Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Ezra Vancil

Ezra Vancil - Island   

Award-winning Texas songwriter Ezra Vancil continues his deeply personal double album Morning & Midnight with “Island,” the second single from the project and the first glimpse into the Morning side of the record. Following the emotional storm of “Babylove”—a song born from heartbreak—“Island” drifts into sunlight, peace, and the calm after years of rebuilding love and family.

Recorded in a cabin in the East Texas woods and featuring Ezra’s daughter Cozi on harmonies, “Island” blends folk storytelling with shimmering indie textures. It also features Ty Richards on electric guitar, Jon Estes on bass, and Chris Brush on drums, with JP Ruggieri on the final mix. The track reflects a rare kind of joy—one earned after loss—its melodies rolling like waves over lyrics that remember a family beach trip, a fleeting moment of perfect balance.

Morning & Midnight, a project that tells a ten-year story of love lost and found again. The new single, “Island,” lives on the Morning side of that story — it’s the calm after the storm. It was recorded in a little cabin in East Texas with live speaker bleed, my daughter Cozi on harmonies, and a few great players from Nashville. If you dig heartfelt, acoustic-driven music with a little shimmer and honesty, I think Island might sit well on your playlist. Appreciate your time and your ears.

Recorded in a rustic cabin deep in the East Texas woods, Morning & Midnight captures both the darkness of loss and the light of rediscovered love. The album moves effortlessly between the grit of Chris Whitley–style honesty and the lush melodic warmth of The Beach Boys, blending folk roots with experimental textures. Collaborators include drummer Chris Brush, bassist Jon Estes, multi-instrumentalist Ty Richards, and Ezra’s daughter Cozi Vancil, whose harmonies bring a timeless glow to the record.

The result is a rare double album that feels both lived-in and luminous — an exploration of time, love, and the quiet beauty of survival.

Interview with Ezra Vancil

(•)> Morning & Midnight is described as a ten-year story of love lost and found again. How did this concept evolve, and what inspired you to turn it into a double album?

It didn’t start as a double album. I was only planning to make the Midnight side; ten songs that were partially started during my divorce years. I found them sitting on an old hard drive after wrapping my last album We Were Wild. They were songs I’d written in that time of separation but abandoned after my wife and I reunited. I guess they were too painful to look at.

When I started finishing them, new songs started showing up; songs from this time in my life now, a season of love that’s been rebuilt and stronger than ever. Somewhere along the way I realized I wasn’t making a breakup record anymore. I was telling both sides of the story. The Midnight songs were about loss and heartbreak, and the Morning songs were about light, forgiveness, and moving forward. That’s when it became Morning & Midnight.

(•)> The new single “Island” captures a sense of peace and calm. Can you share what that song represents within the larger narrative of Morning & Midnight?

Island is really about time passing; that even when you finally get your life back on track, time keeps moving. It’s a sweet sadness. There’s this desperate kind of joy that comes when you lose someone and then find them again; almost like falling in love for the first time, but with someone you’ve already loved forever. It’s that awareness that even the best moments, the perfect ones, are temporary. People say “this too shall pass” to get through the hard times, but I think it’s just as true for the good ones. Island is about learning to be present in that; to live inside it while you have it.

(•)> You recorded “Island” in a small East Texas cabin with live speaker bleed, a rare, organic approach. What drew you to that raw recording style?

I’d been reading about how the Beatles didn’t wear headphones during some of their sessions, and that really struck me. I’ve always hated headphones; they separate you from the real sound of the room. So I decided to try recording Island that way, with live speaker monitoring. It lets sound bleed naturally into the mics and captures the space itself; the wood, the air, even the walls of that little cabin. It’s not perfect, but it’s alive. That’s what I wanted; something that feels like the listener is right there in the room with me.

(•)> Having your daughter Cozi on harmonies adds such warmth to the track. What was it like to collaborate with her creatively and emotionally?

It’s always special working with Cozi. She’s my daughter, but she’s also my creative partner in our duo Cozi anda Flounder. On Island she was just helping her dad out on his solo album, but she has this way of instantly knowing how to lift a song emotionally without saying much. There’s an unspoken connection when we sing together; she knows where my voice lives, and I know where hers will meet it. She’s one of the few people who can make my songs feel complete.

(•)> The album blends the grit of Chris Whitley–style Americana with lush, melodic textures. How did you balance those two worlds in your sound?

I think that balance is who I am. My life has been this mix of raw, dusty lessons and these lush rewards that come from surviving them. Musically, I love the honesty and grit of someone like Chris Whitley, but I’m also drawn to the melodic warmth and harmony of The Beach Boys. Morning & Midnight lives in that middle ground; between the dirt and the dream. The grit keeps me grounded; the melody keeps me believing.

(•)> Over the ten years this story spans, how have you changed as a songwriter and as a person?

Sobriety changed everything. Before that, I was what I call a “diary writer.” I’d just pour out emotion, unfiltered and raw, which had its own beauty, but it was also survival writing. After getting sober I started writing from a different place. There’s less method now, fewer rules. I try not to decide what to write about; I just sit down, let it happen, and see what the song wants to say. I’m more of a channel now than a planner.

(•)> Many of your songs carry a cinematic quality. Do you approach songwriting visually, almost like you’re scoring scenes from your life?

Writing is very emotional for me. I don’t force stories into songs; I let them come to me. I only bring my head into the process when it’s time to edit. Otherwise I’m just listening to what the song wants to say. I think that’s why my songs might feel cinematic; because they come from memory and emotion first. I don’t see the songs so much as I feel them, and later I realize they were painting scenes from my life all along.

(•)> You’ve been recognized in major songwriting competitions like Kerrville New Folk and Unsigned Only. How have those experiences shaped your path as an independent artist?

Those moments gave me little sparks of validation when I really needed them. The truth is, being an independent artist can feel like shouting into the void sometimes. Competitions like Kerrville or Unsigned Only reminded me that someone was listening. But at the end of the day, what’s shaped me most is the work itself. Sitting in that cabin with a guitar and a song that’s still finding its way; that’s what keeps me going.

(•)> The title Morning & Midnight suggests duality, light and dark, beginnings and endings. How do those contrasts play out across the two sides of the album?

It’s literally that. Midnight is the darkness; heartbreak, confusion, loss. Morning is the light; love returning, clarity, forgiveness. They’re two sides of the same truth; you can’t have one without the other. You don’t know what peace feels like until you’ve lived through chaos.

(•)> What’s next for you after this deeply personal project; are you already writing for the next chapter, or are you taking time to live inside this one for a while?

A little of both. I’m still releasing a new single from Morning & Midnight about every month, so I’m living in it for now. But Cozi and I have already started writing our third Cozi anda Flounder album. We’re in the early stages, but I think we’ll be recording before 2025 is out. It’s exciting; a new chapter, but built on the same foundation of family, storytelling, and love.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Ezra Vancil on the Pigeon Spins Playlist