Zoe Speaks:January 2019 Album of the Month

Zoe Speaks

Wings

★★★★★

This one made it to me at the end of the summer, but got thrown into an "Unknown" MP3 file because it wasn't coded properly. Let me correct this oversight  (not mine) by starting the year off right and declaring their album Wings as my favorite album of the month.

The band's name derives from the fact that this is a family band in all those 21^st century ways. It is anchored by two award-winning singer-songwriters, Mitch Barnette and Carla Gover, who began as a husband/wife duo, got divorced, sorted out some stuff, and rekindled their musical partnership. The current project includes one of their daughters, the band's (semi-) namesake Zoey, a wonderful fiddler and harmony singer who also dabbles in other instruments. There's also her fiancé Arlo Barrett, who plays guitar and everything else under the sun, plus standup bass player Owen Reynolds.

Wings is a magical blend of folk, Americana, country, gospel-influences, and old-time mountain music that comes at you with flavorings from lots of people you know, though their sound is uniquely their own. I don't think there's song on the album that I found less than top drawer and several that were so sweet they made me weep. Most of the latter are those in which Ms. Gover is in the lead. "Wings of a Dove" is one such offering. There's a small catch in Gover's voice, lovely backing harmonies, and a gentle sway that's indicative of how Zoey Speaks knocks you over with quiet power. Also in that serene yet expressive mode is "Cheat the Blues" with its expert phrasing and its invitation to "take your shoes off" and get back to the things that matter. When she wishes, though, Gover can go full cowgirl, as on "Give Me Some Sugar," which is equal parts Dolly Parton and Patsy Montana. "There's a Hole in Your Soul's Supposed to Be" has a gospel feel, which Gover picked up from her grandmother who used to sing a cappella hymns. She even nails a traditional children's song, "Paper of Pins," as if she's the offspring of Jean Ritchie. Or maybe it's John Hartford, whose style is evoked in the banjo-led and mandolin-enhanced "That's What Dreamers Do." If all this isn't enough, Gover is also a flatfoot dancer.

Barnette is a fine singer in his own right. He's usually front and center when the band veers in unexpected directions. "The Earth Has Had Enough" is self explanatory in theme and in its folk activist sentiments, but the tune is adorned with cadences that evoke reggae. "Black Feather" has a pastoral bluegrass feel, courtesy of gliding flute accompaniment. He dusts off his pained vocals for "Bluebird," an acoustic mountain blues song about plans gone wrong. I also enjoyed his self-deprecating humor. "One Foot," is a slice of Steve Goodman-like wry commentary on a total screw-up who vows to do better. Barnette throws us a curve by shifting into storyteller mode; his spoke word observations about a documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina serve to take us to the song's punch line: "When you don't know what to do, you do what you can."

I'd be remiss were I not also to say that these folks are also involved in all manner of good deeds in Kentucky–from work with cultural groups to working in schools. My discovery of this gem of an album gives truth to the old proverb "better late than never." Like that old saw from Chaucer, Zoe Speaks gives us things that are both time-tested and timeless.

Rob Weir

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