Sun to Sun

Sun to Sun came together when Alice Gerrard and Tatiana Hargreaves were huddled in place during the COVID-19 pandemic reviewing Gerrard’s personal archive for an upcoming book of her documentary photographs. The images sparked stories and recollections, which inspired and influenced musical ideas Gerrard was already working on. Some of those ideas were captured on Sun to Sun’s dozen tracks, which range from socio-political flashpoints, current and historical, to themes of friendship, love and community. Two distinctly different versions of ‘Sun to Sun’ – a forehead slapping rumination over America’s madhouse gun culture, one a snarky lark, the other a dark lament – open and close the album, ‘Old Jim Crow’ exposes the new Jim Crow to the beat of a wonderfully funky, old-time shuffle. On ‘Keep It Off the Seat’, Gerrard uses scatological humour to skewer conservative discombobulation over gender identity. ‘In My Young Days’ cuts to the soft heart of the wistful reminiscing that wafts through the session. In addition to Hargreaves on fiddle and harmony vocals, Gerrard is accompanied by Hasee Ciaccio (bass), Reed Stutz (harmony vocals, mandolin and banjo), DaShawn Hickman (pedal steel), Marcy Marxer (guitar and banjo cello), Gail Gillespie (banjo), Phil Cook (keyboards) and Nick Falk (drums).