Sheila Vee to Release Title Track from Debut Solo Album RIDE
The New Jersey singer-songwriter's debut album fuses traditional bluegrass with pedal steel and psychedelic elements, produced by Bob Harris of Borderline.
Sheila Vee, a founding member of the Magnolia Street String Band, is going solo. The band's work drew praise from Bluegrass Today, The Bluegrass Situation and The Bluegrass Standard. On Wednesday, October 21, the New Jersey-based singer-songwriter and guitarist will release 'Ride,' the title track and second single from her debut solo album, Ride, due Friday, November 6 via Ampersand Records. It follows lead single 'Throw Me A Line' with 12-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Michael Cleveland, which premiered via Bluegrass Today and earned praise for Vee's 'approachable sound.'
Producer Bob Harris of Borderline plays acoustic guitar and piano on 'Ride,' joined by Vee's sister Rita Shukla on harmony vocals, Swedish Telecaster 'chicken-picker' Erik Holmbom on electric guitar, Andy Leftwich on fiddle, Liam Bornovski on pedal steel, Lawrence Haber on bass and Joe McGuth on drums and percussion. The title works as a mantra for the whole album: 'Just keep truckin' no matter how chaotic, painful and frightening everything seems,' Vee says. 'Keep moving forward amidst the madness in this world — ignore obstacles and stay on course.'
Ride is grittier, wilder and more personal than anything Vee has made before: 'Bluegrass at its core, but with some strange little detours,' as she puts it. The album fuses traditional bluegrass with pedal steel, Telecaster twang and the loose, freewheeling spirit of a Grateful Dead jam. That jammy streak 'created some healthy creative tension in the studio,' she admits. The breakthrough came when she played Harris Old & In the Way's 'Midnight Moonlight' as an example of a 'crooked jam.' The result makes room for the psychedelic, comic and deeply feminine sides of her music that 'didn't always have a place in the band.'
Ride was produced by longtime collaborator Bob Harris of the bluegrass band Borderline, who also produced both Magnolia Street String Band albums. Harris brought a go-big-or-go-home attitude to the sessions. He'd hear a demo and say, 'I think we need Andy Leftwich on this,' and soon the album had gathered nationally renowned players: Michael Cleveland, Rob Ickes, Scott Vestal, Andy Leftwich and Swedish Telecaster 'chicken-picker' Erik Holmbom. They play alongside musicians from Vee's own community including Bob Harris, Dan Whitener (Gangstagrass), Dave McDonald (The Last Whippoorwill), pedal steel player Liam Bornovski, drummers Joe McGuth and Brandon Revilla, bassist Lawrence Haber and her sister Rita Shukla on harmony vocals.
About Sheila Vee
New Jersey–based singer-songwriter and guitarist Sheila Vee steps out on her own with her debut solo album, Ride (November 6, 2026), produced by longtime collaborator Bob Harris of Borderline. A founding member of the acclaimed Magnolia Street String Band, whose albums include the 2019 debut Wrong Side of the Rain and the 2024 family album By the Light of the Moon, featuring her three children, she has carved out a place in bluegrass that's fully her own as a woman of color in a genre where few have traditionally been visible. She also performs with the Sheila Vee Band, the Sheila Vee Bluegrass Band and Grateful Dead tribute bands Big Foot County and Disciples of the Dead. Ride blends traditional bluegrass with pedal steel, Telecaster twang and the loose, wandering spirit of a Grateful Dead jam. At its heart, it's an invitation: 'I'd love to see more women — and more women of color — feel empowered to step into these musical spaces and make them their own,' Vee shares.
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