This folk and roots music world can seem small at times – Only recently I was pointing our readers in the direction of the debut album from The Onlies which I discovered only recently while browsing Bandcamp. It was their first release since 2015, and also their first as a quartet since Vivian Leva joined the band consisting of Sami Braman, Leo Shannon and Riley Calcagno.
The good news is that Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno are to release a self-titled album on 12 March 2021 on Free Dirt Records. This is good on many fronts, both grew up in the Appalachian stringband tradition and have noted parents in the old-time scene. Yes, they are great players, so we can expect great tunes, but they are also mature songwriters.
When Vivian Leva released her critically acclaimed 2018 debut, Time is Everything, she was praised for her mature, deeply grounded songwriting. Likewise, it would appear that Calcagno is also gifted in this area, and while they are still both young, it is their musicianship and almost preternatural talent as songwriters that appears to set them apart.
But why take my word for that? Watch them performing ‘Will You‘ from their new album. The warm combination of guitars and gorgeous harmonies immediately put me in mind of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. This is golden from start to finish and all points in between…If this is anything to go by then this new album is going to be sweet! Most definitely a duo you want to keep an eye on.
Vivian Leva on Will You:
I wrote this song in my college dorm room in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It came out in one sitting; it couldn’t have taken more than an hour. In a still moment of aloneness, I wrote this song about an internal confession filled with regret and love that comes before making an out-loud one. At the time, I felt far from home and from anyone I could share it with. On my next visit with Riley at his college in Oberlin Ohio, I played it for him. We sat on a couch and played double guitars, working out an arrangement that is very close to the one on the record. Although I didn’t realize it when I wrote it, some of the melodic and lyrical choices are reminiscent of some of my parents’ original songs in their duo, Jones and Leva. This song is deeply personal to me. It came from a moment of aloneness, true openness and vulnerability. It’s unintentionally but undoubtedly steeped in the music that inspired me growing up and that allowed me to write this song so organically.
Pre-Order Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno (out on 12 March) via Freed Dirt Records: https://lnk.to/vivianandriley
More here: http://vivandriley.com/wp/
Photo Credit: Brendon Burton