"Heather Maloney | Friday, August 20, 2021 Harmony In The Woods | On Rt 6 in Hawley, PA, next to North of the Border Fireworks Some albums are monoliths, compressed under the weight of a singular circumstance bearing down on an artist. Heather Maloney’s “Soil in the Sky” is a collective memory. Stitched together from personal and universal ecstasy, loss both intimate and ancient, Maloney's fourth full-length release is a collage of tremulous folk, existential ballads, and assertive rock. Taken as a whole, it’s a constellation that looks a lot like life.
The artist holds the center. The Massachusetts-based “writer song-singer” found music in the midst of three years at a meditation center, honing a sound moored in days of silent reflection and reverence for storytellers like Joni, Rilke and Ken Burns. On “Soil in the Sky,” she takes us to the midwest’s existential crisis, a barstool scooching against fate, a make-my-day reckoning with society's old guard. They’re roads less traveled and she keeps good company. Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith lends a distinctive duet to “We Were Together,” a rare love song from Maloney that nods to a Walt Whitman poem; Maloney and Rachel Price form a harmonic Voltron on “Enigma,” a triumphant uppercut to oppressive power structures. The album is sonically rounded out by an all-star cast of players including longtime collaborator Ryan Hommel, Griffin Goldsmith, Jared Olevsky, Reed Sutherland, Dave Eggar and Jay Ungar.
In sound and sentiment, these 12 songs cover an immense amount of territory. But they’re all powered by the same source. There’s a spiritual thread throughout the record. That inspiration doesn’t necessarily come from above -- Maloney has a patchwork metaphysical support system -- but from all around: the glow of humanity gathered in the people and places that lap out in our wake.
Heather has toured nationally as a headliner as well as in support of acts like Lake Street Dive, Shakey Graves, Gary Clark Jr., Colin Hay, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and many more. The New York Times called her music “utterly gorgeous, visceral” and SPIN Magazine described her as “stunning, breathy, and starkly memorable”. “Soil In The Sky” is out on 6/14 via Signature Sounds.
Heather Maloney: Facebook | Website
Interested in purchasing tickets in person? Beginning July 1, tickets will be available for purchase Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 4:00 pm at 508 River Street • Hawley, PA 18428. Tickets will also be available for purchase on-site at Harmony In The Woods an hour before showtime.
Call 570-588-8077 for help purchasing tickets or questions about the show.
Logistics:
* Please bring your own chair/blanket, drinks and snacks. Bug-spray is also encouraged.
*Doors open a half-hour before showtime. Audiences will not be permitted on site until this time.
*No refunds will be issued, except in the case an indoor alternative local venue has not been identified, and disruptive weather is expected. Eventbrite fees (usually between $2-$5 depending on ticket price) are non-refundable.
*The spacious outdoor setting of Harmony in the Woods naturally lends itself to social distancing. Regardless, Harmony continues to follow CDC guidelines and recommends wearing a mask even if fully vaccinated, except while actively eating or drinking.
According to US News and World Report, ""The CDC still recommends vaccinated people wear masks in crowded outdoor settings like concerts where social distancing might not be possible and unvaccinated people might be in attendance."""