Co-produced with James Elkington who also serves as her backing band alongside Nathan Salsburg, Joan Shelley has announced the release of her 5th studio album ‘Like The River Loves The Sea’ (Out on August 30th via No Quarter). She shared an animated video for Cycle which is also our Song of the Day. The added strings you hear are courtesy of Icelandic sisters: Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir and Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir. There are a number of other guests including Bonnie “Prince” Billy who features on harmonies on two other tracks.
This, her 5th solo album was recorded at Greenhaus studios in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Shelley says of the collection:
Woven into the melodies and rhythms of these songs are fragments of the many musical traditions that comprise what we now call Kentucky music: Irish, British, and African to name a few. The best music would be a conversation with the divine that has seen all of it, or with the oldest trees that have witnessed the whole human story. These songs are partly that conversation, at times through the lens of lovers. They are also a longing cry born of all the dividing; a call across the slowly spreading ocean. Primarily, Like the River Loves the Sea is built as a haven for overstimulated heads in uncertain times. The title (which comes from a song by Si Kahn) speaks of the inevitable and at times indifferent nature of love. Whether it be a physical place or an idea, everyone needs a place of comfort. One where we can look out again from that place of calm and see how to best act and to be in an uncertain world.
The record is available for pre-order in the No Quarter webshop and Joan Shelley will be on tour the entire fall. Dates below:
7/26-7/28 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Folk Festival
9/6-9/8 – Louisville, KY – Pete Fest
9/13 – Madisonville, KY – Glema Mahr Center For The Arts
9/27 – Denver, CO – The Walnut Room
9/28 – Fort Collins, CO – Elizabeth Hotel
9/29 – Colorado Springs, CO – Lulu’s
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA – Moroccan Lounge
10/9 – Sisters, OR – Suttle Lodge
10/10 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
10/11 – Seattle, WA – Auditorium
10/12 – Bainbridge Island, WA – Treehouse Café
10/24 – Knoxville, TN – Open Chord *
10/25 – Nashville, TN – City Winery Loft
10/26 – Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic *
10/27 – Asheville, NC – Ambrose West
10/29 – Charlotte, NC – Stage Door Theater *
10/30 – Carrboro, NC – Back Room *
11/1 – Roanoke, VA – Spot On Kirk *
11/2 – Lexington, KY – The Burl *
11/6 – Cincinnati, OH – Southgate House *
11/7 – Nelsonville, OH – Stuarts *
11/8 – Thomas, WV – Purple Fiddle *
11/9 – Washington, DC – Jammin Java
11/10 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern *
11/13 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle *
11/14 – Brooklyn, NY – Park Church Co-Op
11/15 – Boston, MA – Cafe 939
11/16 – Woodstock, NY – Colony *
11/17 – Rochester, NY – Bop Shop Records *
11/19 – Toronto, ON – Drake
11/20 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark *
12/4 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
12/5 – Sheboygan, WI – Paradigm Coffee
12/6 – Stoughton, WI – Stoughton Opera House
12/7 – Milwaukee, WI – Collectivo Coffee
12/8 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk
* w/ Jake Xerxes Fussell
Pre-Order via Bandcamp | No Quarter