An Evening With Kacy & Clayton
Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and recorded at his band’s Chicago studio (The Loft), by Tom Schick, The Siren’s Songfollows Kacy & Clayton’s 2016 record Strange Country.
The startlingly expressive voice and violin of Kacy Anderson combine with the intricate guitar work and warm harmony vocals of her cousin and musical partner Clayton Linthicum. They make music that seems to exist outside of time, tapping into centuries of tradition while effortlessly channelling fundamental human truths. Their 2016 New West debut Strange Country earned the Canadian twosome an enthusiastic following on both sides of the border, and The Siren’s Song looks likely to expand their audience further.
Kacy & Clayton’s music taps into a bottomless well of folk and country influences from North America and the British Isles, injecting centuries of musical and cultural history with youthful energy and a modern sensibility. Their vivid, character-filled songs explore the singers’ rural roots, often addressing dark and bittersweet lyrical subjects in a manner that counterpoints the joyous uplift of the pair’s musical chemistry.
It’s the first album on which Anderson and duo partner Clayton Linthicum — second cousins who grew up in Sasketchewan, Canada — have incorporated electric full-band arrangements; they’re joined for the project by drummer / percussionist Mike Silverman and bassist Shuyler Jansen.
The heirs to Canada’s abdicated folk throne have truly arrived. Long may they reign. — Aquarium Drunkard
The second cousins hail from rural Saskatchewan, where they absorbed knowledge and borrowed instruments from their elders, did their own record collecting, filled in the gaps with obscurities others posted online, and developed their musical voices in tandem, valuingfreedom alongside familiarity — NPR
Like Davey Graham meets Tia Blake in a whiteout on the Canadian plains — Country Standard Time
