And if you’re thinking – sure is a lot of Aoife O’Donovan these days then all we can say is that yes, there is, and that’s a good thing. An example of this musical productivity is this song taken from the Digital Only EP ‘Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail Play All My Friends‘ which is released on August 16th. What’s the story behind this you may well ask.
So – ‘All My Friends‘ had to go out on tour, of course, but for most dates it would by necessity be a smaller group of musicians that the substantial number on the album’s lush recordings. An acoustic combo was the way to go as Aoife O’Donovan explains: “When I decided to take ‘All My Friends’ on the road I knew I needed to have a small ensemble that would be able to get inside the heart and soul of the songs. Hawktail was a natural choice. Reuniting with my Crooked Still bandmate Brittany Haas, along with my comrades Paul Kowert on bass and Jordan Tice on guitar, has been sheer joy. Together, we took these songs apart and put them back together again with new life and different shades of meaning. The arrangements themselves took time to present themselves. We realized early on that it didn’t make sense to try and replicate the grand orchestration or choir parts from the album. As we found our way around the music, new sections and grooves emerged. We also resurrected an old song of mine from 2004, one that I had recorded in the Hudson Valley with my old band Sometymes Why. Brittany wrote a gorgeous fiddle tune to go with it, and it became “Middle/The River that Runs Both Ways”. It’s the perfect addition to the five songs from ‘All My Friends.’”
