Essence & Gold Country talks about the new single ‘Good Mom’

Essence and Gold Country: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22. $26.28. Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley. sweetwatermusichall.org

San Francisco-based Americana artist Essence Goldman of Essence & Gold Country chatted about the new single “Good Mom,” which comes out just in time for Mother’s Day.

How did ‘Good Mom’ come about?

It came out of a really raw moment in my life. I had just become a newly single mom, and everything was shifting. The end of my marriage was heartbreaking, but there was also a sense of freedom in it. With 50/50 custody, I suddenly had space again to reconnect with myself and my music.

For a few years, I’d been deep in motherhood. Breastfeeding, co-sleeping, not getting out much. Then all at once, I was finding my way back to friends, to playing shows, to staying out a little too late sometimes, and then rushing home to nurse my baby girl. It was a wild balance. Exhausting, emotional, but also kind of electric.

The chorus actually came from my friend Roger Rocha of 4 Non Blondes. He tossed it out one night almost as a joke, and it cracked me up. But it stuck.

Later, I smoked a joint and the verses just poured out in about five minutes. It was literally a day in my life. Nothing overthought. Just truth.