Americana duo Harrow Fair (Miranda Mulholland & Andrew Penner) release a brand new acoustic version of their single “Sins We Made“. Check out the new video, premiering officially over on The Digital Fix. Americana Highways premiered the song yesterday and shared – “With captivating harmonies and notable dynamics, Harrow Fair pulls you in to the heart of the matter and has you paying attention. You can’t escape the foreboding spell they cast.” The single is the title and lead track from their sophomore album released this past April on Roaring Girl Records.
“We carved out some time to escape to Miranda’s boat-in cottage in Muskoka, Ontario.” shares Penner (voice, guitar, percussion) – who also engineered, produced, and mastered the new single. “We set up some old ribbon microphones in the main room of the cabin and tried to strip the song down to its essence.” Mulholland (voice, fiddle) continues: “With all the production from the album gone, what does the song still say? This was a mirror of what we’ve been forced to reckon with in our lives. If live performance isn’t the same, what are we left with.” “Sins We Made” is a social commentary on the last few years’ tumultuous news cycle in 8 blind items using a folk song counting trope.
The sophomore album, produced by Penner, and mixed by James Bunton (Donovan Woods, Ohbijou, Joey Landreth), and mastered by João Carvalho, tackles 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.
Never idle, these two artists continue to build an incredible list of accolades with their solo endeavours. Last fall, Penner was both Music Director and starred in the Crow’s Theatre (Toronto) critically acclaimed production of Ghost Quartet. Closing out the year, Mulholland was awarded Runner-Up to Margaret Atwood for Artist of the Year 2019 in the Globe and Mail. Mulholland was also nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Traditional Roots Album Of The Year for her 2019 solo album By Appointment Or Chance.
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.
