It’s the quiet awe of wild places that most animates Natalie Spears’ music. Outside her home in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, she listens to the language of birds, notices patterns of migration and sees the cosmos in the countryside. For Spears, the natural world offers a constant invitation to open the aperture of life to something wider, something wilder. Her forthcoming album, “ Hymn of Wild Things,” (out June 28th) chronicles her experience of wonder, loss and metamorphosis. This is a collection of songs about the intimate corners of humanity, hers and ours alike.
Spears grew up in a home brimming with music. Her dad would sit at the piano playing Chopin, singing rugby songs, scatting Louis Armstrong ballads and reciting whimsical folk songs from his childhood days in Britain’s East Midlands. Spears started on piano and by fifth grade was lugging an upright bass to school, followed by saxophone and drums. When she moved to Colorado in her early twenties, Spears discovered clawhammer banjo from a co-worker while building straw-bale houses. Old-time Appalachian music is a communal activity, a perfect match for the tight-knit, community spirit of mountain town living. She added banjo to her quiver of instruments and started writing songs.
The title track is an autumnal evensong honoring the Sandhill Cranes that migrate through her home in the rocky mountains. The track is grounded by a hypnotic pulse created by sampling and manipulating field recordings of early morning cranes that Spears collected at a reservoir near her home. “Orchard of Dreams,” is a journey-song about transforming eternal self-doubt into fruits of hope. “Risk It All” is a flirtatious 1930's jazz-inspired number about a Louisiana dance floor romance featuring piano, bass, drums and a trumpet section, all recorded in New Orleans.
The album is anchored by a song cycle about the loss of her father, which she sings with clarity and tenderness. “He Still Knows” is a reckoning with the onset of her dad’s Alzheimers. Spears writes about his world becoming a gossamer collage and the disorientation that comes with memory loss. With swirling reverse guitar hooks, the production captures the feeling of time bending and life feeling upended. Similarly, “How Far” was written during a later wave of grief, a post-loss ode to all the irrational things you would do to make someone you love come back to life. “To Know The Dark,” sets a Wendell Berry poem to music, a song she has long sung in community. It’s a piece about holding hands with both darkness and light, a candlelight at the end of a triptych of grief songs.
The album was produced and recorded by Juno-winning musician Jayme Stone who also plays guitar, synthesizer, samples and programmed drums on the album. There are cameos by Christine Bougie (Bahamas), Pat Keen (Humbird), Andriu Yanovsky (The Rumble), Kevin Matthews (Gasoline Lollipops) and Eric Wiggs (Jake Leg).
Spears is best-known for her work with fiddling singer Lizzy Plotkin. The duo’s album, “Just Over the Ridge,” was one of Folk Alliance’s top ten charting albums of the year and made number seven on Billboard’s bluegrass album chart. Spears has played the John Hartford Memorial Festival, Blackpot Festival, Palisade Roots Festival, Chautauqua Community House, Crested Butte Performing Arts Center and the Wheeler Opera House. When she’s not touring, Spears can be found writing songs with veterans, creating the space and trust for them to tell their stories and process their trauma through music. Alongside teaching, working with veterans is one of the ways she practices reciprocity—sharing the gift of music that has given her so much. Hymn of Wild Things threads opposites together: love with loss; tradition with innovation; and the human experience with a more-than-human world.
Photos by Teya Cranson Photography and Will Sardinsky
Past Projects
Lizzy Plotkin & Natalie Spears
“Just Over the Ridge”
#10 album of the year on the Folk Alliance International DJ Folk Charts
#4 song of the year on the Folk Alliance International DJ Folk Charts
#7 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart for the week ending Jan 23, 2021!
"This is one of the most exciting project albums I’ve seen in a long time. The art of an album returns with Just Over the Ridge...The arrangements are stellar. Inviting in every way" - MaryAnne Moorman "Auntmama" (KBCS.FM)
“An intimate collection of new-fangled old-time sounds and stories.” - Jayme Stone
"Hearty, warm music with a firmly rooted pulse that reflects the artistic wisdom of both players." - Laurel Premo
“It's pretty clear to hear how much Lizzy and Natalie love just sitting together with a fiddle and banjo, singing old songs. They've got a joy just in playing that seeps in and makes the tunes linger long after you heard them.” - Courtney Hartman
Nestled in the high country of the Central Rockies, Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears craft a fresh tapestry of sound rooted in American tradition and inspired by the soul-stirring landscapes they call home. Their music brings listeners in touch with the warmth of community, the quiet awe of wild places, and a sweet sense of nostalgia. Lizzy’s exuberant fiddling is the perfect companion to Natalie’s colorful and syncopated banjo/bass style and their sisterly harmonies raise a room to a whole greater than its parts. As avid students of the American Roots genre, dedicated songwriters, and experienced collaborators, this duo is an exciting force rising from Colorado’s vibrant acoustic music scene. In January of 2021 they released their debut EP, Just Over the Ridge. The album reached #1 album, #1 artist, #1,2,5,6,20 song on the Folk Alliance International Folk Charts for the month of February and #7 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart for the week ending Jan 23, 2021. Together they have appeared on the stages of The John Hartford Memorial Festival, Black Pot Festival, Jammin at Hippie Jack’s, Tico Tico Bluegrass Festival, Swallow Hill, Steve’s Guitars, and the Jalopy Theatre.
See This Fight As One
"See This Fight As One" was written in response to the Metoo movement. It was inspired by the words of a Suffragette named Mary Theadora Mills. As a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in Cheltenham England in the early 1900's, Mills composed many propaganda songs for the Suffragist Movement. The first and last verse of "See This Fight As One" quote her song titled "The Women's Battle Song." The melody, chorus, body percussion, and other verses of "See This Fight As One" were composed by Natalie Spears.
All proceeds from song purchases will be donated to Response, an organization based in the Roaring Fork Vally of Colorado that works to end domestic violence and sexual abuse and strives to support survivors in achieving safety and empowerment. Response also provides education about consent and healthy relationships in the local schools.
Pearl & Wood
Hailing from the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, Pearl & Wood weaves silvery harmonies, thoughtful lyrics, and tasteful melodies to deliver a fresh taste of Americana. They bring together their Classical and Roots music backgrounds to create a new matrimony of sound featuring the banjo, cello, keys, voice, and percussion. Pearl & Wood released their debut EP, Pearl & Wood, in 2018.