Biography

No matter how widely eclectic roots music duo Zoe & Cloyd ventures, they always have a place on their setlist for bluegrass, and a deep familiarity with the form that guarantees their bluegrass efforts are authentic in every respect — musically, lyrically and emotionally. So it’s no surprise that their latest release, a spirited new reading of a neglected bluegrass gospel gem from the iconic Stanley Brothers, fits seamlessly into the canon in a way that makes it their most straightforward bluegrass effort yet.

Yet despite its age, John Cloyd Miller notes that “That Home Far Away” has a message that speaks to modern times. “We were excited to record ‘That Home Far Away’,” he reveals, “because it's a really grounding song for us, while also being a fun, driving bluegrass number. The Stanley Brothers' music has always been some of my favorite, particularly their gospel material. This song speaks to hope for the future, which we could all use right now, while offering up a sense of humility. Only in acknowledging our own transgressions can we seek literal or figurative redemption.”

Zoe & Cloyd’s version of the song reprises the Stanley Brothers’ 1959 recording with a blistering banjo kick-off from the group’s Bennett Sullivan, and like the original, features plenty of hot banjo along with sharp fiddling from Natalya Zoe Weinstein, underpinned by Kevin Kehrberg’s steady bass. But there’s a difference, too, as singer/guitarist Miller also adds a punchy new mandolin solo; more importantly, he and Weinstein opt to forgo the Brothers’ quartet vocal arrangements in the chorus, serving up instead a muscular duet that captures the flavor and intensity of Ralph and Carter Stanley’s sibling harmonies.

At a time when it’s all too easy for roots music artists to adopt the trappings of traditional music and call it a day, Zoe & Cloyd stand out for an unadorned, deeply grounded approach to “That Home Far Away” that is as natural and unforced — both ancient and modern — as anything the genre has to offer.