The Civil Wars

For a band whose debut, Barton Hollow, was released in early 2011, The Civil Wars are doing awfully well for themselves. The band has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, played The Tonight Show, topped both the iTunes and Billboard charts, and has a mega-fan in Taylor Swift. The “Ain’t we stinkers?” posturing behind the duo’s cover of “Billie Jean” may feel calculated, but the vocal harmonies John Paul White and Joy Williams drop on Barton Hollow belie a more earnest, less SEO-happy approach to their own material. In a post-Mumford & Sons world, the scene could use fewer acts harmonizing as if they were related—though with The Civil Wars, there’s the promise of those voices melding together over some legitimately bluesy grit.

Updated 01/11/2012