Few bands manage to balance intimacy and scale quite like Outpost Drive. The transatlantic country duo, made up of married partners Mary Bragg Robinson from Alabama and Willow Robinson from Herefordshire, return with 'House Of Cards', a soaring, sun-drenched single that feels equally at home on festival stages as it does on a quiet summer drive.
Written and recorded in rural Wales with hitmaker Jim Eliot, 'House Of Cards' captures the messy magic of young love, creative struggle, and transformation. With Mary’s soulful Southern vocals entwining with Willow’s delicate instrumentals and harmonies, the track tells a deeply personal story of resilience, authenticity, and the search for stability when everything feels unsteady.
So with the new single out now, we sat down with Mary and Willow to talk about their origins and what has been inspiring their sound over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Willow: As a kid I started out playing piano, but never ‘fell in love’ with an instrument until I heard the electric guitar…
Mary Bragg: Electric guitar was definitely my first love instrument! I got a pink sparkly electric guitar as a Christmas present one year around the age of 7 or 8 and felt like the coolest kid alive. A big upgrade from the plastic Guitar Hero guitar.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Willow: My taste has always been pretty eclectic with my first memorable musical obsessions being Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, The Beatles and Guns N Roses. As I grew up my palette broadened into folk & singer/songwriter - with artists like Nick Drake, Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley - Reggae and dub, leading me to a lifelong love of Bob Marley. I also spent many years listening to heavy rock, 80/90’s metal and Grunge.
Mary Bragg: I think I’ve checked off being obsessed with just about every genre by now, but my very first concert was The Wiggles so you can’t really beat that. “Fruit Salad” is still an absolute banger, haha. I’m from Alabama, so naturally I grew up surrounded by country music, but our house had everything playing at one time or another. My personal playlists have always been incredibly random… think Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton hanging out with Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, then Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. I’ve always been a hungry listener, playing whatever I wanted without worrying if it made much sense to anyone else.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Mary Bragg: My Prerogative by Britney Spears which was her Greatest Hits album I believe - I remember playing it like a crazy person on my boom box at probably 5 years old? I would wear pink clip-in hair extensions, fish net tops, & sparkly eyeshadow to school to try and be like her. Always an exhibitionist! Honourable mention albums are Life For Rent by Dido, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, and Love.Angel.Music.Baby by Gwen Stefani which I also listened to incessantly at that age.
Willow: It was probably either By The Way by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, American Idiot by Green Day or The Eminem Show by Eminem.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Willow: Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding.
Mary Bragg: Civil War by Guns N Roses
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Willow: I’ve had a long standing morning routine where I do a stream of consciousness and then attempt to put these words to music. I keep any ideas in my voice notes and can revisit them when trying to write new songs. Since I’m also a producer, a lot of my creative process revolves around experimenting on Logic, building ideas with layers of rhythm and harmonic content - this really helps me to get the creative juices flowing.
Mary Bragg: Willow and I are always writing down lyrics into our phones or journals. I think we’ve both grown up using writing as a coping mechanism for life so luckily lyrical material is not scarce which makes things easier when sitting down to write the actual music. We often have little snippets of melodies in our voice notes, or bits and pieces of songs that just need organizing. I think scribbling down those lyrics or quickly humming the melodies that the heavens provide is a great way to try and capture the music! Usually to get a final product though, we have to sit down and do the hard work of editing and re-editing lyrics and melodies until it is sculpted into a song we’re happy with. Some songs come together easily & others are a real labor of love - it is all song dependent. That’s the fun of the craft!
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Willow: Mary Bragg and I have been listening to Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell on repeat. I am a huge fan of their honest songwriting and organic, live sounding recordings. A huge part of what motivates me as a producer is capturing magical live performances of real musicians, playing with one another in a studio, interacting in real time. These artists embody a return in fashion to recording like the greats of the 60’s and 70’s, which in my opinion is where the greatest soul was captured.
Mary Bragg: The beauty of having an awesome husband is he answered this question for me - killed it!
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Mary Bragg: Taylor Swift & Chris Stapleton are at the top of the list for me.
Willow: Opening for The Rolling Stones would definitely be a pinch (or slap) me moment.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Willow: I adore the process of creation, from the spark of inspiration, the crafting of lyrics, music and arrangement, to the recording, producing, engineering and mixing. I can get lost in the studio in the best possible ways, completely consumed by the flow of creative energy. For me this is a true highlight. And then of course getting to take your creations onto a stage and sharing that energy with an audience is also magic.
Mary Bragg: Ahhh! I love this question!! I LOVE performing (which is ironic because I also had so many years of stage fright) but it is so rewarding for me. When you push past the fear and choose to go for what you love, you get a huge rush of euphoria! I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface on the kind of performer I know I can be & I’m excited to keep pushing myself to be better for as long as I live. Coming off stage and getting to hug the fans and hear that they love the music we’re making is enough to make you want to cry as a musician. It is everything we’ve ever wanted to be able to exchange energy like that & I’m so grateful for the people who continuously show up to see us play. I could write an essay on this so I’ll stop myself now...
And what is the most frustrating part?
Willow: When walking an unknown path, at times it feels like the entire world is against you. Like society is designed to crush the artist within. Musicians are among the most challenged in terms of work load, while also being the least supported. We’re forced to wear a million hats, constantly oscillating between our creative and business brain - attempting to be the greatest artist we can be, while wrestling with the steep demands of living. Often having to hold down multiple jobs while our true passion, music, is regarded as a luxury - even though the artistic sector is literally worth hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide, if not trillions. Art defines our culture and time stamps our generation. Yet artists are often regarded as unrealistic dreamers who need a reality check - that is until their work becomes the source of national pride. I wish there was more support and encouragement for young artists trying to conquer such unbelievable odds.
Mary Bragg: Ah yes, the yin and yang. There’s definitely a lot of difficulty in pursuing music…it can be exhausting having to build everything yourself. Like Willow said, you end up “wearing a million hats.” We’ve spent two years glued to our phones and laptops, psychotically building Outpost Drive, because our life depends on it and no one else is going to chase our dream for us. I look forward to reaching a level where I don’t have to spend so much time online and can focus more on playing music. But that screen time also allows us to book bigger venues and connect with our fans and other musicians, so it’s a sacrifice now for long-term gain. I trust in God with all my heart on the days it gets too much. Luckily, I’m also on this challenging path with my husband, so we lean on each other a lot.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Willow: I think Ed Sheeran said something like ‘Be nice, write songs, do gigs’. Dave Grohl echoes the same message. For what it's worth, my advice would be that mastery occurs from daily repetition. No one gets the dream overnight, they get it over the course of thousands of nights chipping away at their craft.
Mary Bragg: Willow and I did a Tony Robbins course earlier this year called ‘Unleash The Power Within” and he really emphasized the importance of identifying your WHY. It can’t be “I just want to be famous” otherwise you’ll give up when things get hard. You have to dig deep and discover the real reason you want to be successful at your craft. Dig deep. Find your why.
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Outpost Drive's new single 'House Of Cards' is out now. Check it out in the player below.