The Roe Family Singers’ first album for Pinecastle Records will be available this Friday, May 4th.
Songs of the Mountains, Songs of the Plains can be pre-ordered here. The band is celebrating with a CD release party at The Hook and Ladder Theater & Lounge in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday, May 3rd at 7 pm.
The album includes five originals written by band leaders Kim and Quillan Roe and the band’s fiddler Ric Lee wrote “The Bluejay.” The remainder of the album’s 15 tracks feature a blend of traditional tunes and songs from slightly more contemporary writers like Bill Monroe and Woodie Guthrie all performed in the fun and inspiring folk/old-time groove that is the group’s specialty.
The song selection is one piece of the puzzle and another is the vocal performances. “…the vocals of Kim and Quillan Roe, whose harmonies together are so natural you’d think they were siblings rather than husband and wife,” said Kai Roberts of Americana UK.
“The Roe Family Singers are the new wave of old-time… Kim’s lead vocals [are] soulful without melisma, perfectly in key without pushing, and vaguely Southern-sounding-she’s like a soft-focus Dolly Parton-an earthy, modern natural among aficionados, which makes [her music] convincing and felt in its first-person narrative,” said the City Pages when they named Kim Roe “Best Female Vocalist.”
The final piece is the instrumental performance. A cornucopia of instrumentation on the album includes common instruments like guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, resonator guitar and bass. However one of the traits that makes the Roe Family Singers unique is their inclusion of traditional and homemade instruments like autoharp, washboard, jug, and musical saw.
The Roe Family Singers are led by husband and wife Quillan and Kim Roe. The band, whose motto is simply “Be kind, be safe, treat folks how you want to be treated,” present positive and uplifting live shows wherever they go. They got their start at a weekly gig at the 331 Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which they have played nearly every week since 2005. When the full cohort is in attendance, there may be as many as 10 musicians on stage. However, even when traveling as a quartet, the group puts on a rousing and fully engaging show.
