Over and Even
Joan Shelley is based in Kentucky, but the songs on her third album are as indebted to Fairport Convention as Appalachian folk. She has a clear, pure voice that rings out over the intricate fingerpicked spiderwebs and deep, limpid chords on *Over and Even*. The spell she casts is enhanced by the collaboration of Nathan Salsburg, whose mesmerizing guitar work adds heart to “Ariadne’s Gone,” and by the harmonies of Will Oldham, whose woodsy hum buoys the skipping-stone melody of “Stay on My Shore.”
Recorded Jan 16-17 2015, near Louisville, KY. Engineered by Daniel Martin Moore (with additional recording by James Elkington, Rachel Grimes, Kevin Ratterman and Mark Valenzuela). Mixed at LaLa Land by Kevin Ratterman. Mastering by Joe Lambert.
Though Joan Shelley is a folk traditionalist, she's spent her career playing with its form. On Over and Even, her third and best album, she returns to something closer to her origins to make as compelling a record as that genre has seen.
The third solo outing from the spell-casting Kentucky songstress, Over and Even is a breezy, lyrically bold, sonically beautiful soft barrage of bucolic country-folk that evokes Linda Thompson, Joni Mitchell, Vashti Bunyan, and Hem.