Biography

Klezgrass. This one word may best describe the vast musical world of Asheville, North Carolina duo Zoe & Cloyd. Springing from rich and complementary traditions, the artistic stylings of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller fit together in a harmonic dovetail. Zoe & Cloyd delight audiences with soaring harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk with sincerity and zeal. Now, following the release of four singles from the project, the duo is releasing a full-length album inspired by their grandfathers’ musical histories in bluegrass and klezmer music. Songs of Our Grandfathers highlights their musical heritage and their unique take on modern roots music.

A family legacy of music can be a precious thing for a musician, and when a duo brings two of them together, the results can be even more special. But when the duo are John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Zoe Weinstein, whose grandfathers were hard-working practitioners of musical styles birthed in two different cultures and originally separated by thousands of miles, the outcome is something else altogether: the unique, artfully crafted yet deeply organic blend found in Zoe & Cloyd’s Songs of Our Grandfathers, their latest release for Organic Records.

The project isn’t the first time the two have touched on their familial musical roots—Natalya’s grandfather, David Weinstein was a Jewish klezmer musician who emigrated from Ukraine to New York by way of Argentina, while John’s, Jim Shumate, was a pioneering North Carolina bluegrass fiddler—but for the first time, Zoe & Cloyd have devoted an entire album to exploring these two musical streams in ways that not only honor the distinctive features of each, but also blend them in exciting and innovative ways. And in a nod to one of the project’s inspirations—the legendary 1995 collaboration between David Grisman and Andy Statman, Songs of Our Fathers—four numbers feature Statman, a virtuoso bluegrass (and beyond) mandolin player and accomplished klezmer clarinetist who contributes to both sides of the combination.

Songs range from the unadulterated bluegrass of “Rocky Road Blues” and “We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart”—Weinstein plays the fiddle Shumate used on the original, groundbreaking Flatt & Scruggs recording from 1948—to straightforward acoustic renditions of “Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn” and “Misirlou,” both staples of the New York Yiddish music scene in the 1930s and subsequently popularized by artists like the Andrews Sisters (who did the former as “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” with English lyrics) and surf guitarist Dick Dale, who turned the latter into a rock’n’roll hit in 1962. Others, like the Shumate original, “Up and At ‘Em,” and the “Bulgar Sigansky” and “Klezmer Clave Medley” from manuscripts left by David Weinstein, weave strands of bluegrass and klezmer music into refreshing new patterns, abetted by strong playing from Zoe & Cloyd band members Bennett Sullivan (banjo, guitar) and bassist Kevin Kehrberg.

“Both styles are melting pots,” note the artists, “and it is fitting and natural for us to combine them in our music.” And indeed, by the time the final track,“Misirlou,” fade away, listeners to Songs of Our Grandfathers will have heard a full-bodied new take on American roots music, one that holds fast to the integrity of Zoe & Cloyd’s legacies yet brings them together in unique and compelling ways.

About Zoe & Cloyd
Klezgrass. This one word may best describe the vast musical world of Asheville, North Carolina duo Zoe & Cloyd. Springing from rich and complementary traditions, the artistic stylings of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller fit together in a harmonic dovetail.

Descending from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians, Natalya trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before discovering old-time and bluegrass and moving south in 2004. John, a twelfth generation North Carolinian and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler, Jim Shumate, is a gifted singer and songwriter, placing 1st in the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and the Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest. Long-time fixtures of the Asheville music scene, the pair were founding members of the lauded roots trio, Red June, later shifting to Zoe & Cloyd after the birth of their daughter in 2015. Since that time, the pair has released four acclaimed albums, performed across the US, and appeared in Season 5 of the nationally syndicated PBS show, David Holt’s State of Music in 2021.

In 2022, the band was an official showcase artist at the IBMA World of Bluegrass, featured guest artists for the Davidson College Holiday Gala, as well as hosts of A Swannanoa Solstice at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. Their fifth studio album, Songs of Our Grandfathers, is set to release in May of 2023 on Organic Records, just before their international debut in Northern Ireland.

Zoe & Cloyd delight audiences with soaring harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk with sincerity and zeal.