Ken Pomeroy’s ‘Cruel Joke’: Life’s journey in observations, reflections to realizations

Cruel Joke, Ken Pomeroy’s new album, is out now via Rounder Records—her first in partnership with the label. Anchored in Pomeroy’s Native Cherokee heritage, Cruel Joke is a powerful collection that showcases her raw songwriting and engaging voice. Produced by Pomeroy’s musical partner Dakota McDaniel, Gary Paczosa (John Prine, Alison Krauss, Sierra Ferrell, Katie Pruitt) and Colton Jean, the project consists of twelve deeply personal tracks (all written alone) that find Pomeroy telling stories of her own self-realizations and reflections as well as observations of the world around her. 

Reflecting on the album, Pomeroy shares, “Dakota and I began recording ‘Cicadas’ back in February of 2023. That marked the beginning of our long two-year journey and so much has happened since we started. The oldest song was written when I was 13 years old. The most recent one was written and added to the record only a few months ago, just before we finished recording. For almost two years, we dedicated almost every waking moment to working on Cruel Joke.”

An Oklahoma native, Pomeroy is already receiving widespread attention and has established herself as “a new voice reviving the age-old Native Americana sound” (Teen Vogue). To date, the 22-year-old has appeared in the hit film Twisters, in which she performed a cover of “Wall of Death,” had her song, “Cicadas,” featured in Hulu’s show, Reservation Dogs, and toured alongside artists such as Lukas Nelson, Iron & Wine, American Aquarium, John Moreland and Kaitlin Butts. A skilled guitarist and versatile session musician, she has also lent her musical abilities to projects by artists such as Wilderado, Kyle Nix of the Turnpike Troubadours, J.R. Carroll and more.