It’s been three years since Devon Sproule’s critically acclaimed release Upstate Songs and now Devon is back with her follow-up. They say you’ve gotta write what you know and Devon follows that advice on this record centered around her recent marriage (to singer-songwriter Paul Curreri) and her adopted home state of Virginia.
Devon takes the roots of Virginian music to use as her sonic palette, typically this means mountain music, appalachian waltzes and bluegrass laments (this is when it doesn’t stray into noir jazz). Keep Your Silver Shined is being released by City Salvage and distributed by Waterbug and has an April release date, but is available now from Waterbug here. Devon makes organic music that is as unhurried and as relaxed as a spring afternoon. The new record has already received praise from NPR’s This American Life and will surely go down as one of the great roots records of 2007.
Devon and Paul have been putting together Valentines duets records since 2003. These are available for free download and are mostly a collection of covers by folks like Bruce Springsteen, John Hurt, and John Prine. Here’s a couple of songs from
the 2007 version including a Devon Sproule original called “Don’t Hurry For Heaven” that holds up well against all the cover songs.
Don’t Hurry For Heaven
Crazy As A Loon (John Prine)
Carrie’s Freckles: