For the last few weeks I’ve been hooked. I’ve been hooked on The Civil Wars, and I’m not talking history here.The Civil Wars — a country-folk duo who got their start at a Nashville song writing session in 2008 — have gained significant recognition over the last year. The band’s easy-going sound combines hints of country twang with low-key folk vibes and the mix has created a killer debut album, which was released in February of last year.
The album — entitled “Barton Hollow” — was included on a number of “Best Of” lists at the end of 2011, and this is what led me to first take note of them. Critics were raving about the duo, describing how great their original sound and superb song-writing skills were.
The album then led the duo — Joy Williams and John Paul White — to the Grammys one year after the album’s release where they took home Best Country Duo/Group Performance, and Best Folk Album. Go figure — even the Grammy board couldn’t decide what genre they belonged in, which, in turn, reiterates how original-sounding The Civil Wars really are.
What pushed me to eventually check the duo out was their performance at the same Grammys show. They were invited to perform ahead of well-known-Wars-supporter Taylor Swift, giving the world a brief snippet of their hit single, also named “Barton Hollow.”
The single is powerful and gritty, yet beautiful all the same. It’s the most upbeat song on their album, but it still manages to tell a story.
Aside from the hit single, The Civil Wars keep things fairly simple on their debut album. There is no background music to overcome the purity of their sound. It’s just Williams and White, singing, strumming and harmonizing along in bare-bone performances that create for an intimate setting.
The entire album’s concept seems to be based on conflicts between marriage, or any partnership for that matter. Songs such as “Poison & Wine” and “Birds of a Feather” really sound off on the theme. On “Feather” Williams and White sing their yearnings, if you will, separately and then come in together to join forces on the fact that despite their trouble, each couldn’t live without the other: “Where she walks no flowers bloom / He’s the one I see right through / She’s the absinth on my lips / Splinter in my finger tips / But who could do without you.”
Other notable tracks include the more country-sounding “Forger Me Not,” along with haunting opener “20 Years,” finger-snapping “I’ve Got This Friend,” and a beautiful piano, guitar instrumental with hints of violin called “The Violet Hour.” I could listen to it for hours.
After The Civil Wars’ Grammy performance, I think both the duo — and myself — knew they were going to be the next big thing. And you’d have to be to get invited to perform on the soundtrack to the biggest movie of 2012 so far, “The Hunger Games.”
Released last month, the album contains two songs by the duo. The first, pairing with Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars perform a wistful song called “Safe and Sound” that acts as the film’s main course of music. The second is more of a conscience-driven song called “Kingdom Come.” The song seems to place us in the mind of the film’s female protagonist, who must fight for her life, jumping from the frantic — “Run, run, run and hide / Somewhere no one else can find / Tall trees bend and lean, pointing where to go” — to the comforting — “Don’t you fret my dear / It’ll all be over soon / I’ll be waiting here for you.”
And with that, we’ll be waiting here for them too, waiting to see what else The Civil Wars will come up with next. I don’t see them running away anytime soon.
