Americana duo Harrow Fair (Miranda Mulholland & Andrew Penner) release a brand new acoustic version of their song “Shadow”. The song, originally off their 2020 sophomore album Sins We Made, is about how addiction can follow you like a shadow. Please listen to the raw and emotional rendition here.
“I find that stripping a song down from its full version reveals something completely new. When we recorded the original version we built it up like a house with different sounds and layers;” shares Mulholland (voice, fiddle). “This was more like the process of sculpting where you take a big piece of marble and cut it away. We found more nuance in this song about addiction.”
This is the second acoustic version to be released from their sophomore album collection. The first one, the title track “Sins We Made”, was released in October 2020. Both of the songs were captured at Miranda’s family boat-in cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. “We set up some old ribbon microphones in the main room of the cabin and tried to strip the songs down to their essence.” shares Penner (voice, guitar) – who also produced.
The sophomore album, produced by Penner, and mixed by James Bunton (Donovan Woods, Ohbijou, Joey Landreth), and mastered by João Carvalho, tackled a variety of topics and themes including claiming a space for oneself (“Seat at the Table“); modern relationships in the new digital era (“I Just Wanna”); and, addiction/depression (“Shadow”). The album garnered attention from Spotify’s “New Music Friday”, “Renegade Folk”, “Rock Favourites”, “Ready To Rock”; SiriusXM’s “North Americana”, CBC Radio One, Stingray Americana Channel, Amazon Music’s “Fresh Folk and Acoustic”, ALTo Magazine, Americana UK, Canadian Beats, Canadian Musician, Cashbox Canada, ET Canada, Folk Radio UK, Folk Roots Radio, FYI Music News, Great Dark Wonder, Music Life Magazine, Rudy Blair Entertainment, & Werk.re.
What’s The Story About Harrow Fair?
Harrow Fair is Miranda Mulholland & Andrew Penner. One part stomping songs that echo early country and rock n roll. The other gritty ballads that sound sweet and haunted. This duo’s evocative and rapidly expanding collection of songs, such as “Hangnail”, “The Hunt” and “Told A Lie To My Heart”, Chris Isaak’s iconic song “Wicked Game”, Memphis Minnie’s “When The Levee Breaks” (also made famous by Led Zeppelin), and The Rankin Family’s Juno award-winning single “Fare Thee Well Love”, are utterly foreign, oddly familiar and deeply gratifying.
Festival darlings, Harrow Fair have performed at more than 35 festivals in Canada, the US, and the UK. The group has captured audiences from the UK, Sixthman’s RockBoat with The Trews, Red Wanting Blue and Better Than Ezra, Waterstock, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Kingsville Folk Festival, Sawdust City Music Festival, Jackson Triggs Amphitheatre, Americana Music Festival and Conference in Nashville, JUNOFEST, AmericanaFest UK, Midem, Folk Alliance International, and performed in Geneva for the World Intellectual Property Organization. Andrew Penner is a member of Sunparlour Players and has played on and produced over 50 albums and Miranda Mulholland was in Great Lake Swimmers for eight years and has played or sung on over 75 albums including records by Cowboy Junkies, Rose Cousins, and Donovan Woods. Their sophomore album, Sins We Made, was released on April 17, 2020, with Roaring Girl Records.
