This self-titled album is the second release by American singer, songwriter, and musician Vivian Leva whose solo debut came out in 2018. For these new recordings she is joined by Riley Calcagno, a young musician who learned his trade on the festival scene. In fact, the pair are from the Appalachian string band tradition and Leva grew up in a rural setting in Virginia, the daughter of celebrated old-time musicians.

Their album was produced by Joel Savoy at his Louisiana studio and contains all original songs based on the music they grew up with but with fresh new melodies and singing. Of the eleven tracks, five are composed by Leva, one by Calcagno, and the rest co-written. Leva leads with most of the vocals and plays rhythm guitar with Calcagno on acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle, and banjo.
The press release describes it as ‘old-soul roots music to its core’ and that’s exactly what it is. When they are joined by musicians on pedal steel, piano, bass, and drums it moves into country music territory and this is most successful on ‘Biding All My Time’ and the closing track ‘Good and Gone’. By contrast, ‘You Don’t See Me’ has the more timeless air of a traditional folk ballad that is also reminiscent of Cinder Well.

The lyrics of many of these songs explore themes of space, distance, and separation in uncertain times. They were working on the songs well before the arrival of Covid, while attending different universities separated by half the country. They would send each other voice memos, and work on songs during weekend visits.
“We would try to write music in these little spare moments,” Leva explains. “It’s so hard to communicate with someone over the phone. A song is a place that you can map out how you’re feeling and how you want to share your feelings.”
The two best songs are Leva’s ‘Will You’, and the melancholy ‘Love and Chains’ which they wrote with Sam Bailey. This delicate song, with the pair trading vocals, is a reflection on being in the moment even as a difficult parting is imminent. On these and some of the other songs the arrangements move in unexpected directions.
The addition of other musicians allows a bigger range but just listening to the pair on their own is perhaps the most rewarding of all. What cannot be overstated is the skill, care, and love that has been put into the making of this record by young musicians already steeped in a tradition way beyond musical fashions.
The album will be available on CD, LP, and digital, and is scheduled for release on 12th March by Free Dirt Records.