The Story of Biscuit & Gravy: “do u love me?”

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The Story of Biscuit & Gravy: “do u love me?”
Published: September 6, 2024

Today, Justin Osborne of SUSTO and his wife, Caroline Osborne, released a new single with their collaborative side project, Biscuit & Gravy. The single “do u love me?” was recorded and produced in Charleston by Corey Campbell of Babe Club, who also played in SUSTO during the & I’m Fine Today era (2017-18). The folk-pop tune is a sweetly-sung duet, with lyrics that explore themes of love on the road, enjoying the travel and simple moments together. It is also a subtle nod to George Strait’s “Check Yes or No”.

Biscuit & Gravy was created while the couple had brunch together, hence the name. “do u love me?” is the third single they’ve released so far, with the first two being “Love’s Not That Hard” and “The Carpenter”. Fans of SUSTO already know Justin as a prolific songwriter, and he explains how writing with Caroline, a talented lyricist herself, has been an important way for them to connect.

“Caroline and I are constantly writing songs together at home, and when traveling too, it’s just kind of been our dynamic since the beginning,” Justin says. “We first connected over songs, and songs have been a way for us to work through stuff, even things that are just specific to one of us.”

Justin and Caroline have co-written three songs that made it onto SUSTO albums, including “Tina” and “Double Stripe” from the latest studio album, My Entire Life (2023), and one called “Double Crown” that will be on the forthcoming SUSTO String Band album.

“I’ve never had a creative partnership with a romantic partner until our relationship, and same for her,” Justin explains, “and i think it really helps keep us centered because we always end up writing through things we are working through in real life.”

Stream to “do u love me?” below, and read on to learn more about the song and Biscuit & Gravy from both Justin and Caroline.

Biscuit & Gravy – “do u love me?” (2024)

Biscuit & Gravy on Songwriting

According to Justin, he and Caroline simply write songs together because they both enjoy it. Once the song is done, it goes into one of three categories: SUSTO, Biscuit & Gravy, or something else to be saved for later. Since SUSTO has an established narrative voice, certain songs, like the ones that are recorded with Biscuit & Gravy, represent a different style of songwriting that wouldn’t necessarily fit on a SUSTO record.

Justin refers to himself as a lazy songwriter, and says that Caroline often drives the collaboration by bringing her own ideas to the table, encouraging Justin to dive in with her.

“She’s got a real talent for lyrics, and that’s kind of my favorite part about our process,” he says. “She has a way of saying a lot with only a line or two, and I just love that in songs. I like to think I bring some skill and creativity to the table as well.”

Writing “do u love me?”

The new single, “do u love me?” was written on the road with SUSTO, specifically in Davenport, Iowa, when Caroline was touring full-time with the band. Caroline recalls the story of the day they wrote it:

“We had a half day off in Davenport IA and initially wrote this song with a Loopy app on our phones because we didn’t have a guitar,” she says. “This one really captures that time in our lives when I went on tour with J – forgetting what city you’re waking up in, but it doesn’t matter… because home isn’t a place, it’s the person you’re with. And feeling totally in love and hoping the other person does too. It’s a vulnerable beautiful place to be.“

Biscuit & Gravy eventually plan to release a full album, which has a working title of Acid Metal Love Songs. For now, they are just enjoying putting out singles every few months.

“With a new baby at home, Caro working full time, and me staying so busy with SUSTO and SUSTO String Band, it feels good to keep this easy pace for now, but we’re both excited to keep putting out more BG tunes,” Justin concludes.

Closing Thoughts

Stay tuned for more from Biscuit & Gravy as they continue to release music over time, and of course don’t miss SUSTO on tour if they come to your city. I’ve been seeing them live since 2016 and I’ve never once been disappointed.