Check out the latest single from Rising Appalachia. ‘The Bones’, a cover of a song by Maren Morris and Hozier, is arranged and performed with great precision and beauty by Rising Appalachia’s front-women, sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith. The pair possess gorgeous voices that blend and harmonise perfectly over swaying rhythms. Their voices float over bright claw-hammer banjo, delicately-picked guitar and ethereal fiddle that rises out of the song.
Leah Song says of the cover choice: “‘The Bones’ was an unsuspecting cover for us. A song that first caught my attention as the godmother to an amazing little 6-year-old as she belted out its lyrics over and over again.” Rising Appalachia were drawn in by the lyrics. Song continues: “Their simple meaning, both metaphorically, and in actual architectural terms, are inspiring. ‘The house won’t fall when the bones are good,’ a.k.a. you need a strong foundation to build anything: love, trust, a relationship, a house, a village, a city, a faith. The architecture at the ground level has to be sturdy to hold the whole thing up. For these reasons, the song really hit hard, and it felt like an obvious one for Rising Appalachia to take on. We admit, at first the band wasn’t sure if we could make it work, perhaps it was too upbeat for us. But after one round with the string band ensemble, it instantly felt like it was written for us. It’s a pleasure to sing this song, to belt out the lyrics loudly and fully, encouraging the listener to take their foundation seriously. To hang on during hard times, and know that we can each come out on the other side.”
Rising Appalachia had announced a break from social media and their touring schedule to focus on new music during 2024. Now they’ve announced a forthcoming album , ‘Folk and Anchor’, a collection of cover versions that re-imagines some of the pair’s favourite songs. Song explains the project: “We grew up immersed in a musical family, and our songwriting and performance has been deeply influenced by so many Americana genres over the years. We wanted to create a body of work where all those influences could be showcased under one roof.” The selected songs all tell their own stories. Song adds: “But more than that – they tell a story together, and that story weaves the listener into the sonic tapestries of the roots of Rising Appalachia.” While those roots include all sorts of influences, from Bob Dylan to Beyonce, Rising Appalachia very much make these songs their own.
