Micki Balder Reflects On Lessons Learned Through Love and Loss With Debut EP ‘A Feeling I Once Knew’

Folk singer-songwriter Micki Balder delivers a heartfelt recount of the whirlwind she experienced during the pandemic with her debut EP, A Feeling I Once Knew. This project, for Balder, serves as a time capsule capturing the series of events that impacted her the most during a time characterized by uncertainty and doubt. This EP delves into the stories of tender romance, star-crossed circumstances, the sorrows of heartbreak, and embracing new beginnings; Balder effortlessly captivates listeners with her warm tone and introspective lyricism. Following the release of the lead single and title track of the EP, this Denver-based songwriter has listeners waiting on the edge of their seats to get the full scope of the story they previewed in early October.

The colours she paints throughout the EP – from the electric groove on “Lonely,” to the decadent symphonies on “With You” – come together in a vibrant soundscape detailing a beautifully heartfelt story-driven record. Balder deep dives into her most personal experiences on this EP, and loved hearing “the ways people see their own experience through the lens of this story.” She says, “that’s the beauty of music and honest storytelling, is that when we can share our vulnerability, even if it feels personal and specific, listeners resonate with that and are able to examine their own lives through shared experience.”

Micki Balder is a folksy singer-songwriter writing sad songs for happy people (and ever so occasionally, happy songs for sad people!). Her music is born from a life-long desire to be a character in a musical, unapologetically singing her feelings for the world through simple and poignant lyrics. Though she’s been dabbling with music her whole life, it wasn’t until 2018 when a friendship’s moment of truth unveiled itself in the middle of a Denver coffee shop. She walked home, wrote a song, and has been writing ever since, now a regular at local music venues around her Colorado home.

Micki writes from a place of vulnerable storytelling, with people and relationships at the core of her music. She’s been compared to modern folk bands like The Weepies and Mipso, along with classic songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, but she draws inspiration from all over the spectrum — the swing and soul music of her lindy hop days, the earthy folk of Gregory Alan Isakov and Mandolin Orange, the candour and dry humour of John Craigie, or the heartbreak of Sara Bareilles, to name a few.

Cover art for ‘A Feeling I Once Knew’ by Micki Balder