Arborea

There are plenty of ways to tie Arborea to the freak folk and new American guitar movements that emerged in the early 21st century. Though the Maine-based husband-and-wife duo of <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a> and Shanti Curran presented a halfway point between otherworldly female vocals à la <a href="spotify:artist:4gn6f5jaOO75s0oF7ozqGG">Joanna Newsom</a> and deeply disciplined guitar playing à la <a href="spotify:artist:0K6DXvfMXmF7L4h0P7Ivva">Jack Rose</a>, the sum total was something altogether removed. In large part, the Currans belonged more directly to the lineage of musicians who grew out of the late-'50s folk revival, seeking to connect current music to ancient traditions, as opposed to using it as a vehicle for strictly personal expression, without sounding the least bit like revivalists.

<a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck Curran</a> served time in the Navy before settling in Norfolk, Virginia and getting a job at local guitar shop Ramblin' Conrad's. The store also acted as a local folk center and booked performances by musicians like <a href="spotify:artist:1FqG6mhiJbhbMg43ohCT6D">Bert Jansch</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:55wOEGTc3QKwBJ9gntcOxT">Pentangle</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:7kJfeECt6CmcCBM8uX1td8">Mike Seeger</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:4fqd1tgX1D2YESwxzr2cvd">the New Lost City Ramblers</a>), and others. <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Curran</a> mixed sound there, learned to become a luthier, and played in local blues bands. Following the marriage of <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a> and Shanti Curran, the two moved to Maine, where they raised two children, and <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a> worked building and repairing guitars. After more than a half-decade of marriage, in 2004, <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a> purchased a banjo for Shanti, which came in a minor tuning, and the two began to make music together, quickly creating a small repertoire that blended <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a>'s studied chops with Shanti's haunting voice. They named themselves Arborea and, in 2006, self-released Wayfaring Summer.

The two began to tour extensively, preferring to play house shows and other more musician-oriented venues conducive to intimate performance. Using MySpace, they connected with the national network of bands that had found an audience in the wake of <a href="spotify:artist:1YZEoYFXx4AxVv13OiOPvZ">Devendra Banhart</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4gn6f5jaOO75s0oF7ozqGG">Joanna Newsom</a>'s successes, including the Philadelphia label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Language+of+Stone%22">Language of Stone</a>. Their sound broadened to include other instruments, including harmonium (played by Shanti), electric slide guitar, and ukulele. <a href="spotify:artist:50fQa15juRHbm02BT3UxxA">Buck</a> produced a pair of compilation albums. Leaves of Life benefited African charities and featured <a href="spotify:artist:1YZEoYFXx4AxVv13OiOPvZ">Devendra Banhart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2QIHd0B2VIKlmLyoq4lUr7">Alela Diane</a>, and others. We Are All One, in the Sun was a tribute to guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1bB0hKohfWkczaTMQLQdlR">Robbie Basho</a>. Arborea, meanwhile, recorded several more albums, including 2006's House of Sticks and 2011's Red Planet, sometimes in collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:5oskjjKT8YsWJV0o8NEV9R">Espers</a> cellist <a href="spotify:artist:46w8l7qgAMd9Xo4gTyqhpn">Helena Espvall</a>. ~ Jesse Jarnow, Rovi