Charles Jensen | Writer

The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow
Music Math: (Peter Paul & Mary – Peter) + Ulysses S. Grant / Hell on Wheels

Best Tracks: “20 Years,” “I’ve Got this Friend,” “Barton Hollow”

Representative Lyrics: “I’m a dead man walking here / That’s the least of all my fears / Walk beneath the water”

Notes: Charmingly anachronistic duo The Civil Wars blend country, folk rolk, and bluegrass sounds with their perfect cross-gender harmonies. Both singers have beautiful solo voices, which we hear from time to time, but their real strength is their dueling melodies on tracks like “Barton Hollow,” which evokes the era of the actual Civil War more vividly than many elements of the war itself.

Beau’s Critique: “This album makes me want to commit suicide.”