![]() When listening to the album, it is somewhat easy to convince yourself that Joy Williams enjoys the lion’s share of the spotlight compared to the balance of previous projects. Since we know roughly half of this album was recorded before Sherman burned Atlanta, and roughly the other half after Appomattox, a fun party game could be going through the track list of The Civil Wars and choosing which songs were recorded when. The Civil Wars Tension Creates Confusion For Fans Though this result was likely not from trends as I’d opined early, and more from the duo burning too bright, there’s still this business of 12 new tracks that they’ve released into a world they once conquered as the one band of substance that would get recognition from the CMA Awards an Americana super-project if you will that could deliver some artistry into mainstream channels. ![]() Insert your ironic quip about how a band called “The Civil Wars” ended in tumult here. Certain undisclosed, but publicly acknowledged irreconcilable differences have officially split the project in two, and almost kept this album from seeing the light of day altogether. Of course my stupid little opinion didn’t stop The Civil Wars from going on to win two Grammys, and selling half a million copies of their album Barton Hollow… despite the 3 retweets my little Twitter tirade got.īut now it is August of 2013, and by all accounts, The Civil Wars latest, self-titled album will be the duo’s swan song. And despite being admittedly impressed, after they sang a version of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” (that even this country critic must admit is an underrated composition from an artistic standpoint), I unsheathed my 1st generation smartphone to declare to the world through the vessel of Twitter they they were the Steve Vai of singing, and smacked of a trend. They hung on each other’s notes like they had been singing together since birth-John Paul White looking strikingly like Johnny Depp, no doubt making the ladies in attendance swoon, and Joy Williams with her dark eyes and her voice rising like an angel. The duo’s songwriting and singing prowess was undeniable, and still is. It was one of those instances where the engagement was booked months before the band blew up, and now they were playing a show many times smaller than their standing in the musical world. White and Williams issued a statement in August 2014 that they had "regretfully decided to permanently part ways.At the 2011 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, I found myself standing smack dab in front of a stage at the airy Swan Dive venue on Red River Street, watching The Civil Wars do their worst. Although it debuted at number one and earned strong reviews, it proved to be their last. ![]() ![]() Live at Amoeba appeared in the spring of 2012, and although rumors of a split for the duo circulated, two projects appeared in 2013, the soundtrack to the movie A Place at the Table, which saw the duo working with producer T-Bone Burnett, and a new full-length studio album, the self-titled The Civil Wars, which was released at the end of the summer. The result, Barton Hollow, was released in February 2011, topping the digital charts and cracking Billboard's Top 20 during its first week. The Poison & Wine EP followed later that year, and the duo partnered with producer Charlie Peacock to begin recording a full-length album in 2010. An Americana, folk, and country duo formed around guitarist John Paul White and vocalist Joy Williams, the Civil Wars made a quick name for themselves with the release of a digital album, Live at Eddie's Attic, in 2009.
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