Locust Honey String Band announce new album

Locust Honey String Band

There’s a rock hard spine that holds up the bones of American country music, both now and back to the distant past. That spine is the spirit of the women who have given their hearts and souls to the music – everyone from Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells to Sara Carter and Ola Belle Reed. It’s a spirit very much alive in the music of Asheville, North Carolina-formed, now Nashville-based Locust Honey String Band. Born in Georgia, singer and fiddler Chloe Edmonstone channels generations of women in her original songs, writing odes to jilted lovers, hard drinkers, and independent souls that can walk hand in hand with the old-time mountain songs that have been carefully selected for their new album, Never Let Me Cross Your Mind. Showcasing the dynamic partnership of Edmonstone and renowned old-time musician guitarist/singer Meredith Watson, the core of Locust Honey String Band, the two carefully crafted the arrangements and harmonies and sing so closely together they could be siblings. The album also features banjo player Hilary Hawke of popular New York duo Dubl Handi.

Each member of Locust Honey is steeped in the old-time music of the Appalachian Mountains. They bring a huge passion for American roots and a knowledge of how the different genres of music that criss-cross Appalachia have historically intersected and influenced each other and the music on Never Let Me Cross Your Mind is a jubilee of Southern musical traditions, from old-time string band fiddle-banjo tunes to vintage country duets, old Carter Family songs, dancehall honky-tonk numbers, and mountain blues. It’s all tied together with remarkable finesse by artists who know the roots of the music inside and out, but aren’t afraid to push back at the tradition to get at new truths.

Never Let Me Cross Your Mind strikes a lovely balance between the raw ferocity of a live show and the precision and subtlety of a studio recording. Part of that is due to the deft touch of recording engineer, Grammy-award winner Joel Savoy and Never Let Me Cross Your Mind was recorded, mixed, and mastered at his studios in Eunice, Louisiana. Each member of Locust Honey has a chance to shine and the lively arrangements are remarkably effective at drawing out the heart of the song by reworking its setting. ‘I’ve Forgotten More Than You’ll Ever Know About Him’ turns from its 50s Western roots into a beautiful string band song while Nick Cave’s bleak interpretation of ‘Henry Lee’ is returned to its Appalachian roots without losing its iconoclastic nature and George Jones’ classic ‘Just One More’ becomes a sister-harmony country and western song. Throughout though, EdMondaystone’s originals shine from the glow of all these different influences, actively pushing the traditions in new directions, including album opener ‘When the Whiskey’s Gone’, recently featured in the Richard Gere-starring film, Time Out of Mind, directed by Oren Moverman.

It’s an ambitious album, but what makes it even more impressive is how simple and direct every song sounds. Never Let Me Cross Your Mind is a celebration of the power of acoustic roots music, of the fact that when you strip the music back to its core it only grows more powerful.

Artists’ website: http://www.locusthoney.com/

‘Horse Drawn Buggy’ – official video:


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