Harpeth Rising bring their eclectic brand of folk to Barnard Castle

You are classically trained folk singers. How did you come by your somewhat unusual approach to music?

Our sound is definitely an amalgam of our influence and our training, which are quite diverse as each of us comes from a very different background, culturally and musically. The common thread is that we all studied classical music together at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Maria is from Brooklyn, New York and spent time playing both Eastern European folk music and Latin music. Rebecca is from northern California, which was home of the Folk Revival in the 1960s and fosters and still produces a lot wonderful folk musicians today. I spent the first half of my childhood in Canada and grew up listening to Stan Rogers, Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen, and then my family moved to southern Indiana, where there is a rich Bluegrass and Old-Time music culture. I think all of these different influences have made it into our music somehow or another!

As an all female band, are the subjects and experiences covered in your songs different than if you were part of a mixed line-up?

I think our songwriting is certainly very personal, but I don't know that it's particularly gender-oriented. We write everything from protest songs to story songs to philosophical musings, and we even once wrote a love song to a car.

You often hear of male groups being dominated by egos. How do you girls get along?

We are like family, and as such get along perfectly and imperfectly and get grouchy and get over it and generally have a wonderful time.

What have you learned from your time in Nashville and how easy a decision was it to move there?

Our journey to Nashville was quite roundabout, as we each went our separate ways for a couple of years after University to pursue grad school. But ultimately we decided Nashville was a great place to start a music career, and it has been. It's close enough to the middle of the US that we can tour more easily to either coast, and it's full of constant musical inspiration. On any given day we can see our colleagues playing their own forms of progressive folk in a small club, or a musical icon playing at The Grand Ole Opry!

How would you sum up Tales From Jackson Bridge?

If I were to say there's a theme to this album, it's probably the idea of choice. Many of these songs examine the decisions we make in our lives, from the day-to-day, to the broader concepts of life and death. Musically, it's been described as prog-rock meets classical meets bluegrass, and that sounds about right. It's hard to describe your own music, but I like that description.

Do you think British audiences get your music in a way others might not, maybe even some back home?

We definitely love playing for British audiences, as they seem to enjoy and appreciate slightly difference things than American audiences. Occasionally I wonder if I have a British sense of humour, as the audiences here will notice and laugh at lyrical jokes that sometimes don't get much of a reaction back home!

The folk genre is in a really healthy place right now. What do you think of the standard of music being created?

There is so much incredible music out there right now, and much of it is being made by our friends! We meet so many bands creating their own personal brands of folk, bluegrass, and Americana. It inspires us and gives us hope that more people are finding their way back to Acoustic music.

What are your plans for the future?

Right now we are just focusing on playing as much as we can, touring to new places and writing new songs. As long as we can stay afloat we feel privileged to be able to do this. That's not to say we would turn it down if they asked us to play at Glastonbury!