Rarely will you hear such beautiful American roots music so perfectly performed.
Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee have found themselves in the premier league after gaining a reputation as one of the most original old-time influenced duos working the circuit. The pair first combined in 2013 and quickly established a big Stateside following. This will be their UK debut (they are one of the main visiting attractions being flown in for Shetland Folk Festival).
After the release of two albums in 2016, AmericanaUK called them “a true joy,” while Acoustic Magazine said they were “incredibly atmospheric.” Lonesome Highway (Ireland) described the pair as “a musical marriage made in heaven.” “Music for sunshine and mint juleps” – Folk Radio UK
The Lowest Pair have John Hartford to thank for their name – and the title of one of their latest albums. The duo has been building up an impressive Stateside head of steam since combining in 2013 to embark on their incredible musical journey.
Kendl Winter, born in Arkansas, put three solo records out and performed in nationally-touring northwest string bands before forming The Lowest Pair with Palmer T. Lee. Palmer built his first banjo when he was 19 from pieces he serendipitously inherited. He began cutting his teeth fronting Minneapolis string bands and touring the midwest festival circuit, which is where he and Kendl first met, on the banks of the Mississippi. In 2015, while touring in support of their second, critically-acclaimed album, The Sacred Heart Sessions, they continued to write and found themselves with more new songs than they needed for their planned follow-up, deciding ambitiously that two collections should be released together.
Those new records, Fern Girl and Ice Man, and Uncertain As It Is Uneven, could be viewed as windows into their growing and changing world. The latter stays the course of their previous releases, being focused on stripped down, intimate arrangements to support their timeless song-writing and haunting vocals. Fern Girl is a more moody and adventurous exploration of new sounds, new studio production directions, and what it might sound like to be supported by a full band, while keeping one foot planted in the rootsy aesthetics which drew them together.
When the albums were simultaneously released in the UK, the reaction was enthusiastic and instantaneous.