Natalie Spears & David Brown are a duo rooted in a love of old songs and a sense of place. With hand-made instruments, close harmonies, and a deep reverence for traditional tunes, they approach roots music with thoughtfulness and palpable joy. Their sound is both grounded and exploratory, allowing time-worn songs to open into new shapes.
“ ~I recently had the chance to take in a house concert given by David Brown and Natalie Spears. Both accomplished musicians in their own rights, Brown and Spears have found a way to make room for each other's strengths while allowing their own talents to be drawn out in new and interesting ways. The result is an unpredictably beautiful pattern that's the musical equivalent of a patchwork quilt.
While the duo clearly pays homage to a constellation of musical styles, they come together in a sound that might best be described as "Post-Newgrass."
One of the joys of listening to Newgrass in the 1990s was how it seemed to reflect the optimism that dawning digital age would allow us to cross barriers of space and time to connect people and cultures in exciting new ways. While the promise of that era may persist in some ways, we have learned all to well how being everywhere can feel like we are nowhere. Spears and Brown allow their specific experience in places like the British Isles and the Shenandoah Valley to ground our stories in a longer narrative. They are willing to allow their prodigious skills to create an avenue towards authenticity for themselves and their audience.
Sometimes this means playing a simpler tune, but that is not just an act of nostalgia for a simpler time. When a person who can sing like Dusty Springfield or pick like Doc Watson chooses not to make their whole career out of that, they are doing so in the service of something beyond themselves. David Brown and Natalie Spears bring us along on a journey to find what's over that next ridge. They remind us of the hope that comes from seeing a Redbud tree in the early spring and of joy in knowing that winter will not last forever.” ~Jay