Music Review: Wishing Chair - Folk and Roll: Live in Austin

When singer/songwriter Kiya Heartwood started to record her second solo album in 1995, she asked her friend, multi-instrumentalist Miriam Davidson, to join her on a few tracks. It quickly became clear that the two had an undeniable musical chemistry, and rather than releasing Singing with the Red Wolves as a solo album, they formed the band Wishing Chair. Over ten years and seven albums later, the duo continues to perform their critically-acclaimed eclectic blend of rock, pop, and traditional folk arrangements.

Folk and Roll: Live in Austin is their latest recording, and it tries to be several different albums all at the same time. In some ways it succeeds, and in other ways it is less successful.

It is an acoustic, stripped-down "live" album, recorded at Congress House Studios in Austin. The arrangement of the song order could easily be lifted from one of their live shows, and the arrangements of the songs themselves are the same as how they perform them live. Fans who are used to hearing albums with full instrumentation may be surprised by this, but thanks to the engineering and mastering work of Mark Hallman, every note resonates with the fullness one might hear in an acoustically tuned music hall.

The band has recorded and released all seven albums on their own label, and over time, many of the titles in their back catalog have slid into out of print status, despite several new pressings. So, one aspect of Folk and Roll is the role of a "best-of" album. Concert favorites such as "This House" (originally recorded by Heartwood's former band, Stealin Horses), "Copernicus," and "Higher Ground," appear along side a few new songs and one traditional child ballad ("Bonny Lass of Anglesey").

Some of the old favorites were originally recorded when the duo was working with a full band, and over time as they transitioned back to just the two of them, the arrangements were tweaked. "Higher Ground" has lost some of the vocal harmonization layers in the process, but it has gained the energy that until this recording was only present in the live shows. For "Beautiful Soul," Davidson has set down the accordion in favor of the keyboard, adding to the song's Latin pop/jazz flavor, which never quite fit in with the mostly traditional folk album Dishpan Brigade.

Folk and Roll introduces the listener to three new tunes by Heartwood, the band's primary songwriter. "Boston" was inspired by a wintry visit to the city, and is yet another example of Heartwood's ability to paint a picture with only a few words: "I walk the streets with cobblestones / Headphones, hood up, all alone / River wind cuts to the bone / Hands deep in my pockets." Both lyrically and musically, the song conveys the sense of a pilgrimage in search of answers which lead to only more questions.

Article Author: Anna Creech

Anna Creech is a librarian and blogger who dreams of a day when she can improve the ratio of read-to-unread books in her house.

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