A post that continues to capture the interest of visitors to this site is my 2020 review of the warm, intimate, and compelling music of Watchhouse. I first heard the North Carolina folk duo — then known as Mandolin Orange — at the 2014 Red Wing Roots Music Festival and was instantly smitten. Singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz crafted songs that were simple yet compelling. Over the years the band expanded to include other musicians and continued to produce warm, intimate music even as they became more widely known, explored new sonic palettes, and played larger venues.

But with the release of the Watchhouse Duo project, Andrew and Emily — now married and with children — are back on the road as they began: two individuals “with profound chemistry, performing earnest yet masterfully crafted songs that encompass the unknowable mysteries, existential heartbreak, and communal joys of modern life.” This new album is a self-produced project that reduces the songs from their 2021 introductory album as Watchhouse down to its basic acoustic elements.

The Duo album opens with Wondrous Love — not the familiar folk hymn but one of Andrew’s compositions which stands in amazement of a universe “abound with wondrous love.”

I think of all the traveling that I’ve done
I think of all the traveling I could do
I could travel on and on and only
Travel ’round in circles ’til I’m blue
This sort of thought leaves me no despair
It pours me out then fully fills me up
It leads my heart infinitely onward
Across a universe abound with wondrous love

New Star celebrates an addition to the family.

We settled in for the winter
The cast in our lives, found a new star
And all of our remaining hours
Were bundled up tight and placed in our arms

Someday we’ll be older
Our eyes may cry
Look what’s become of me and my former
Steal away, steal away, remember
At least we’re all here together

Finding our way as a teacher
Stumbling along a little unrested
If only one lesson could reach her
She’ll know our love could never be tested

The sentimental video to the tune as originally released on the Watchhouse album “explores how the ritual of fire — across birthday candles, sky lanterns, sparklers and more — unites people.”

Coming Down from Green Mountain is a simple, yet beautiful instrumental with guitar (Emily) and mandolin (Andrew).

Watchhouse has also been playing dates with Emmylou Harris in recent months. Although the quality of this video isn’t great, I cannot pass up a chance to share Emily and Andrew singing harmony on Emmylou’s iconic Boulder to Birmingham, written after the death of Gram Parsons.

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face

The Watchhouse Duo is touring this fall, with shows on the West Coast, in the Southeast, and ending with a few in the Northeast. The closest shows to the Washington area will be in Roanoke (December 6th) and Wilmington (December 7th).

It is a joy to see this band continue to grow in its work. Enjoy!

More to come . . .

DJB

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez