In April 2025, Peter Mulvey and Jenna Nicholls, along withguitarist Ross Bellenoit, traveled to Floyd, a smallmountain town located in the Blue Ridge Highlands ofSouthwest Virginia, for five uninterrupted days ofrecording. What emerged is Floyd Mercantile — a recordthat feels both intimate and timeless.The makeshift studio was a decommissioned generalstore called (you guessed it!) Floyd Mercantile — aweathered wooden building standing across the road froman open pasture where cows wandered and grazed in thegentle early spring. (One cow even volunteered to be onthe album cover.) Inside those old walls, the trio recordedthe album live — no isolation booths, no heavyoverdubbing — just three musicians in a room, listeningclosely and letting the songs unfold in real time.The sessions were recorded by Jeff Oehler and filmed intheir entirety by partner Sue Bibeau and their associateSkylar Locke. Together, Sue and Jeff comprise BeehivePro, an audio, visual, and design collective famed for theirintimate recordings and thoughtfully considered visuals.They captured not just the sound, but the atmosphere —the wood floors, the daylight through the dusty windows,and the creak of the porch boards could all be consideredsession players on this album.The repertoire bridges eras. Mostly comprised of songsPeter and Jenna wrote separately, there are a few gemsfrom the Great American Songbook: “Skylark" (HoagyCarmichael/Johnny Mercer), “Them There Eyes" (MaceoPinkard/Doris Tauber/William Tracey), and “I'll Be SeeingYou" (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal).The visual and sonic tones of the project reflect theperiods these songs evoke — even the newly composedtracks feel in conversation with another time. The goal wasnot nostalgia, but continuity: to stand inside the lineage ofAmerican song and add something honest and present toit. Floyd Mercantile is not just an album. It’s a document ofplace. Of three musicians in a room. Of songs — old andnew — allowed to breathe in the quiet of a Virginiaafternoon.