Since the latter stages of 2021, Borrowed Sparks — the project of Americana-punk singer-songwriter Mike Bay — has been releasing live cuts recorded at Nashville-based studio, The Smoakstack.

The final installment drops this Friday, and it’s a truly gripping rendition of one of the band’s most poignant tunes.

“Patron Saint” — from Borrowed Sparks’ 2020 EP, The Prettiest One Left — was re-imagined at The Smoakstack. Whereas the studio version featured just Bay and his guitar, this live, full-band experience puts forth the tune’s soaring emotional content, befitting its story of a woman navigating a stormy sea of hopelessness, with no clear way to shore.

Overall, the tension in the track builds over time, with crashing cymbal swells and the swirling ambiance of a B3 organ, Guitarist Darren Kyle King — who also mixed the track at Rat King Recordings — delivers emotive guitar accents that punch through the delicate soundscape.

“This arrangement is one of my favorite things we’ve ever done,” Bay said. “Adding the band makes this song really come alive and hit the way I felt it when I originally wrote it. I still get chills when Darren’s guitar solo comes in. The contrast of the song’s softness against that grinding distortion would never work on paper, but in the track, it’s perfection.”

“Patron Saint” will drop on streaming platforms this Friday, with a lyric video to come on March 29. We have your first look at it below!