To make an anti-fascist record, you must keep kindness and compassion in the foreground. That’s just what singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Mulvey and SistaStrings (cellist-vocalist Monique Ross and violinist-vocalist Chauntee Ross) did, along with drummer Nathan Kilen. Love Is the Only Thing — out on August 22nd — started when the musicians gathered at their beloved Café Carpe in Fort Atkinson, WI to record a live album and a studio one. Live at the Café Carpe was released in October 2020, but the pandemic put the studio album on hold.
The bright light of family illuminates this record and all that went into making it. Its existence hinges on the way we take care of each other, from its fan-supported funding to the sanctuary of Café Carpe to the blood sisterhood of the Rosses to Mulvey’s newfound fatherhood. “This album is basically a happy family song, then a song about how fucked up things are, then a family song, then a song about how fucked up things are,” Mulvey laughs.
Fellow Milwaukeeans SistaStrings bring all the beautiful versatility of their cello and violin music, along with vocal harmonies, to the project. Classically trained string players who grew up singing in church, Monique and Chauntee were destined to defy conventions of genre and race alike, blending R&B, gospel, and classical sounds. In 2022, they performed at the Grammy Awards with Allison Russell and Brandi Carlile, two artists SistaStrings will tour with in summer 2022. The Rosses will also be performing with Carlile at a Madison Square Garden concert in October.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the group’s take on the folk classic “Shenandoah,” which longs for a kinder America during a time when we desperately need it. Mulvey’s rugged yet calming vocals combine with warm acoustic guitar and the rich strings to create a mood that is intimate and reflective. The group gradually builds layers of energy and texture to give the song a sense of swelling power, ultimately making for a stirring take on this traditional folk song.
Peter Mulvey describes the inspiration behind recording the song:
“Nobody wrote this song, and nobody has ever recorded it. It’s hardly even a song- it’s a region, an ecosystem, a frequency. It’s deeply rooted in the American soul: wild and weird, rustic and deceptively complex, and of course also it is a fever dream of the colonizer, and yet and yet and yet… it’s a sequoia, a thunderstorm… it’s the wide Missouri. We offer our humble tributary, which took our whole lives to learn.”
LISTEN:
2 Responses
Very moving,thanks ????????
Very nice.
Peaceful.