Zoey Tess - Knocking at the Door of Change

There’s something electric about hearing an artist who isn’t afraid to say exactly what they mean.

On her new single, “Knocking at Your Front Door,” Connecticut based singer songwriter Zoey Tess delivers a protest song disguised as a folk rock anthem. And it's truly a song that demands your attention and refuses to let go.

It’s raw, urgent and deeply personal - a protest song for the modern era that speaks directly to the political and moral fractures of American life.

Listen in here:

The track opens with the intimacy of a stripped down acoustic performance before blooming into a full band storm of drums, guitar and grit.

Produced by Spencer Hattendorf and recorded at the legendary Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, "Knocking at Your Front Door" features a dynamic ensemble including Teddy Kumpel, Reed Sutherland and Nate Mondschein.

Engineered by studio owner Paul Antonell, mixed by Grammy winner Mario J. McNulty (David Bowie, Prince) and mastered by Dave McNair, the track carries an analog warmth and immediacy that feels defiant.

Lyrically, Tess pulls no punches. She takes direct aim at hypocrisy, corruption and the institutions that uphold them, singing with a conviction reminiscent of protest voices from another era.

“You’ve sewn division, sold religion, traded slavery for prison systems,” she sings. It is clear that she has experience of what she is writing about.

That weight has roots in Tess’s personal history. Raised in Southbury, the neighboring town to Sandy Hook, she was home from Berklee College of Music when the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting devastated her community.

One of her closest friends’ mothers, a staff member at the school, survived that day. Tess has spoken about how the tragedy shaped her worldview and her songwriting, especially in this track’s second verse, which is a direct response to Congress’s failure to enact meaningful gun reform.

While “Knocking at Your Front Door” echoes the spirit of folk legends like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs, it also channels the raw confessional honesty of ‘90s era singer songwriters like Sinéad O’Connor and Fiona Apple. It’s this intersection between righteous anger and personal vulnerability that gives the song a real resonance.

As the first glimpse into her forthcoming debut album, There’s Gonna Be a Reckoning, the single sets a powerful tone for what’s to come.

Tess has described the record as a “ringing of revolution,” and you can feel that spirit here — the sense that this isn’t just music for its own sake, but a plea for change.

In a time when so much pop music feels apolitical or detached, Zoey Tess reminds us that art can still hold a mirror to the world. And to maybe even change it.

“Knocking at Your Front Door” doesn’t just ask us to listen; it asks us to act.

About Zoey Tess

Zoey Tess is an American singer songwriter, producer and pianist whose music traces a line from her early jazz and contemporary roots into a sound that blends folk protest traditions with the raw emotional energy of the ‘90s singer-songwriter era.

Born in Coral Springs, Florida and raised in Newtown and Southbury, Connecticut, Tess began studying piano and violin at a young age before attending the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. She later studied briefly at Berklee College of Music before deciding to forge her own creative path outside the classroom.

Her journey as an artist has been marked by both courage and conviction. Working under the mentorship of producer Vic Steffens (Whitney Houston, The Blues Brothers), Tess has worked on her music in the studio and onstage, performing with the New Haven jazz fusion group Artful Soul and exploring multiple genres before finding her voice in the realm of socially conscious folk-rock.

In 2025, she began work on her debut album, "There’s Gonna Be a Reckoning", a raw and often brutally honest body of work that tackles themes of political unrest, faith, and the human need for justice.

The record was brought to life with an impressive team of collaborators, including Grammy-winning engineer Mario J. McNulty (David Bowie, Prince), Paul Antonell (Natalie Merchant, Parliament Funkadelic), and producer Spencer Hattendorf. The album also features acclaimed cellist and composer Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Evanescence).

Tess is a vocal advocate for gun reform and an active supporter of Sandy Hook Promise, a foundation created by parents who lost children in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. This was a tragedy that occurred in her own community and left an indelible mark on her life and art. Through her songwriting, she aims to amplify empathy, accountability and change.

Keep up with Zoey Tess on her Website