Gracious Calamity :: Song That Grows Like A Vine (Demo)

unnamedGracious Calamity are Kate Lee and Kit Wallach, a duo based in Jamaica Plain, MA. They describe their music as Gospel, Melodramatic Popular Song, Healing and Easy Listening. The descriptions are apt. “Song That Grows Like a Vine,” which appears on their 2011 album Carefree Since ’83, is a borderline spiritual experience. But it’s a demo of the tune, originally appearing on the now-defunct Hooves on the Turf blog, way back in 2009, that truly has the power to transport.

Homespun and charmingly dusty, the demo does as its title suggests, changing throughout, though never requiring more than two voices, two guitars and a kick drum. Kate and Kit’s voices are earthly and heavenly alike, delivering their deceptively plainspoken lyrics with a mystical matter-of-factness, although an air of sorrow and doubt and lingers within the recording.

A tale of betrayal and heartbreak, the narrator is deserted by her lover for another.   The song may grow like a vine but our narrator stuck in place. The dust is palpable in this warm, intimate performance, like the kind that rises from the floorboards when opening an attic door. Perhaps our narrator resides there, locked away in her heartbreak. words / c depasquale

Gracious Calamity :: Song That Grows Like a Vine (Demo)

One thought on “Gracious Calamity :: Song That Grows Like A Vine (Demo)

Comments are closed.