August 5, 2025 · 4 min
The story behind Tigers + news for Luvers!
Learn what inspired the Mayberry Wine song, Tigers.
Hello Luvers!
We've been hard at work recording songs and exploring various ways to share our music with the world.
The story behind the song: Tigers
By Kristi Casey & Steven Glude
UPDATE: A newer version of the song is now on streaming platforms. You can hear that here.
Where did the idea for Tigers come from?
Steven: I was thinking about a friend who’s struggling with addiction issues. That’s where the initial creative impetus came from. I wrote the beginning of the song and the chorus — I really liked the riff, but I didn’t have any more words. I sent Kristi a recording of me singing what I had and asked if she could help me finish the verses.
Kristi: The weekend before Steven sent me the mumble track, I’d written a song about resisting injustice. I loved the verses but hated the chorus. It was a gift getting Tigers. I was able to pop my verses right in. When we sang it together the first time I think we were both surprised how well it worked.
What inspired the lyrics?
Steven: I wrote the first few lines and the chorus, thinking about the tiger as a metaphor for addiction: “Four in a row, days moving slow, days for waiting, relief not coming, no relief you’ve known.” With the chorus, there’s a call to action to take control and take the reins. You can either rise to a challenge or let it defeat you. It’s that balance between hope and despair. Are you going to “cope or choke”? Kristi’s verses make that coping more of an active than a passive choice.
Kristi: My verses were inspired by this idea of fighting back against forces that are trying to oppress you. So we’re turning our back on what’s trying to hurt us, finding safety in community and hitting the road. It’s dark stuff, but Steven’s music elevates it and makes resistance fun.
What’s Tigers about?
Steven: Originally, it was about addiction, but now I think the tiger’s the shadow or thing that has power over you. You’re trying to reduce the effect of something that is controlling you. There is hope and we will get through it, whatever it is — politics or personal demons.
Kristi: For me, it’s about rebellion against powers that seek to dominate and destroy us by suppressing freedom, love, sex and joy. When we sing it, it feels like we’re creating a talisman against darkness and domination, like we’re affirming the power of light to drive out darkness.
How the song came together
Steven: On the recorded track, there’s one acoustic guitar, our vocals with no or very little effects on them and maybe three different kinds of drums. It’s pretty sparse. It kind of told us what it needed to be. That night I also did a “Tigers Gone Wild” remix immediately after to see what it might sound like as a Beck song with all the dancy kind of effects around the vocals and guitar. So much of what we record, we try to leave relatively unproduced. I wanted to really mess with a track and show Kristi what was possible. We could really reimagine any of our tracks. I don’t know if we’d ever release it, but it was a fun exercise.
Fun fact about Tigers
Kristi: This was a true collaboration. Steven made some brilliant tweaks to my lyrics, simple adjustments that improved the tone. For example, one of my original lyrics was, “If we survive these horrors, will I still recognize you?” Steven changed it to a more triumphant, “When we survive these horrors, I’ll still recognize you!” We all deserve more hope and fun.
Save the date!
- September 6: We're headlining a show at Canopy + The Roots in Dahlonega. Stay tuned for ticket links and more info!
- October 19: We'll be returning to Athens Porchfest. Address and time details coming soon!
America's Favorite Couple?
So .... we did a thing and entered ourselves in a competition sponsored by Jeff Goldblum because we really want $20K to spend on recording our songs.
We survived four elimination rounds already: to get in the Top-20, Top-15, Top-10 and Top-5.
This Thursday at 10pm ET they will eliminate all but the top two couples. You get one free vote a day, or you can donate to a good cause to give us a bigger boost (and some days those votes count for 2x value).
If we make the cut, that would put us in the quarterfinals!
Thanks, Luvers!
Final notes
Want us to play a gig near you? Reply to this email and tell us who we should contact.
Think a friend might be a Luver? Forward this newsletter to them.
And if you want to share with the world that you're a Luver, we've got merch :)
Thanks, Luvers!
Kristi & Steven
