Biography

The haunting “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down” is a statement that good must prevail over evil. Sung by Natalya with an almost sweet and innocent tone, the traditional spiritual feels foreboding, with its childlike sadness and softness. An old-time claw-hammer banjo and bowed bass add to the song’s somber mood.

“This song is a traditional spiritual that we learned from a 1965 field recording of Frank Proffitt. Proffitt learned the song from an African American banjo player named Dave Thompson, also from northwestern North Carolina,” says Miller. “The song is direct and powerful, and Natalya's solo vocal echoes the starkness of many old-time source recordings that we love.”

The song’s quiet, yet austere nature is a direct line to Zoe & Cloyd’s heritage, yet they bring the traditional forward, as this song carries just as much weight into today’s world.

These two new recordings and Zoe & Cloyd’s prior single, “Looking Out For You and Me,” make for a quarter of their upcoming album, I Am Your Neighbor, showing diversity within traditional Southern Appalachian music and the ways that it can be both preserved and redefined.