Song Premiere: “The Blackest Crow,” by A Different Thread

July 6, 2020 Ken Templeton

There are certain duos that sing so effortlessly together that it makes you wish you’d been in the room for that first moment when they harmonized. Mandolin Orange, The Milk Carton Kids, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Birds of Chicago. Well, add A Different Thread to the list.

Robert Jackson (Lichfield, England) and Alicia Best (Durham, NC) combine to create truly stirring and entrancing sound–one that traces faithfully to traditions on both sides of the Atlantic but feels unique and their own.

We’re so pleased to premiere the video for “The Blackest Crow,” from the group’s latest EP, Some Distant Shore. The record is a collection of folk songs with long histories, some well known, and others that may be new to you.

“The Blackest Crow,” features Alicia’s lovely fiddle playing, harmonizing in a different way with Robert on the harmonica. The video was filmed in Brooklyn, but they found a corner to record that feels like a small corner of quiet with the bustle of the city hinted at in the background. It’s that third line of the verse that always gets me–their voices soar and meet each other. The phrasing is familiar, but could you ever get tired of something so pure?

Check out this fantastic duo and be sure to spin the EP. It’s a gem.