Mount Moriah

Mount Moriah (Durham NC): interested in & inspired by the South.

As record store clerks in Chapel Hill NC, Heather McEntire (of post-punk veterans, Bellafea) and Jenks Miller (of heavy-psych/metal outfit, Horseback) spent their evenings creating Mount Moriah as an outlet for their mutual interest in classic American folk and rock music. Born in North Carolina's Blue Ridge mountains, McEntire weaves narratives into spectral tapestries imbued with the complex majesty of the South and its deep-seeded spirituality. With nods to contemporaries – Gillian Welch, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Fleet Foxes, Carole King, Emmylou Harris – Mount Moriah challenges existing traditional folk music forms with contemporary minimalist arrangements. The 2010 EP, The Letting Go, highlighted the band’s thematic range, moving from delicate acoustic narratives to a dark, fuzzed-out, soulful stomper in just three tracks. Mount Moriah’s long-awaited, self-titled debut -- featuring guest instrumentation by members of St. Vincent, Megafaun, Gayngs, Bowerbirds and many other North Carolina-based musicians -- is cut from the same cloth, offering a far-reaching and non-traditional take on classic folk themes like devotion, tribulation, redemption, and an indelible sense of place.