“We're Just On This Whirlwind”: Avery Anna Discusses Writing with Sam Barber, Hints at New Collaborations On The Way

Ahead of her electric C2C Festival 2025 main stage performance at London's O2 Arena, Avery Anna sat down with Holler to delve into her prolific creative partnership with Sam Barber.

The two country prodigies dropped two stellar collaborations, ‘Indigo’ and ‘Restless Mind’, as part of Barber's widely lauded debut album late last year. Shortly after its arrival, ‘Indigo’ blossomed into one of the break-out mega-hits of 2024, with the mournful, introspective offering spreading unstoppably across TikTok.

Since then, Avery Anna and Sam Barber have been teasing additional collaborations via social media, with the duo embarking on a writing retreat in Montana in January.

As well as uploading snippets of covers, such as Thelma & James’ ‘Happy Ever After You’, Anna and Barber have shared a couple of tantalising clips of evocative unreleased tracks.

Speaking to Holler in London, Avery Anna recalled how the two artists managed to bottle up lightning during their first ever writing session together, “‘Indigo’ was the first time me and Sam ever met - let alone write a song together - and I was very nervous, because I admired him and his music so much. I had the song title, ‘Indigo’, and we ended up writing the song and loving it. Then, he ended up asking me to sing on ‘Restless Mind’ as well, because we finished that song together too”.

The ‘vanilla’ hitmaker expanded, “I think it's just so effortless with Sam, because we understand each other to a certain extent. We're in the same boat, we live similar lives, and I think it's very easy to write about those things with someone that can comprehend them because of the things that they're going through in their own life”.

Heartwarmingly, Avery Anna underlined, “I think when two creative brains get together, you just make magic. We had no idea that ‘Indigo’ was going to be as big as it is, and it's been such a blessing to the both of us. I know that Sam and I are both just blown away by the stories that people are sharing with that song. We've seen lots of videos and posts about grief, whether it's the loss of someone they loved, a part of themselves or something that they loved, people are sharing it and it's so devastating, but also beautiful to watch. So we're just on this whirlwind”.

When asked about forthcoming music with Sam Barber, Avery Anna remained coy, but confirmed there's more on the way. On the prospect of a full album of duets, Anna quipped, “Maybe...Wink, wink...”, before explaining, “We were on a writers’ retreat - just Sam and I - in Montana for like a week, and it was beautiful. It was in the mountains. It was a really good escape from reality for a second. But yeah, we wrote a bunch of songs, and who knows, maybe you guys will hear them...”

Excitingly, it seems we've got plenty more Avery Anna and Sam Barber link-ups to look forward to. Judging by Anna's tongue-in-cheek response to a potential duets album, it seems this is a possibility, but even if we just get a joint single or two, given how enchanting ‘Indigo’ and ’Restless Mind’ are, we have no doubt it'll be worth the wait.

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