Album Notes

Cabin Fever NW is the female duo Dianne Bochsler and Tara Wolfe. They specialize in distilling a song to its purest melodic essence, presenting their vocal interpretations with the accompaniment of guitar and old-time banjo.

The vocalists establish a timbre and tempo that allows each song to unfold, revealing the emotional and musical content with confidence and subtlety. Each singer’s voice has qualities quite unlike the other, resulting in a lush and especially satisfying harmonic blend.

"The Door Is Always Open" is the duo’s third and most recent release (November 2006). It features a generous portion of original songs, with a sprinkling of traditional favorites. With innovative harmony and elegantly sparse guitar and banjo, this recording brings the best of new and old together and creates a modern interpretation of traditional sound. The duo is joined on this recording by guitar master John Miller.

Dianne and Tara met in Bellingham, WA when their children were in pre-school in 1998 and have been close friends and neighbors ever since. Dianne is originally from upstate New York and has been singing as long as she can remember, inspired by her dad and his guitar. Tara is a Canadian native who grew up in Ohio, longing for the mountains and prairies of Alberta where her mother's family roots took her on summer vacations.

Both women have harmony singing in their genetic code; both feel strongly that making music is a great human joy that more people need to experience today. Their music is welcoming and accessible: nothing slick, nothing synthesized, no artificial ingredients. In true folk music tradition, their compositions reflect all aspects of the human spirit, including pain, joy, doubt, love and loss.

“When Tara and Dianne sing their original songs, I have the feeling I’ve heard them all my life, but am just growing into them. They are both familiar and fresh at the same time, the instrumental arrangements elegant in their simplicity, the lyrics so often speaking to my condition. I either feel I’ve been there, or I am there, or I want to be there,” says producer Ginny Snowe.

Prior releases from Cabin Fever NW include "Spring Thaw" (2004) a collection of 15 cover songs, with back-up from musicians including John Reischman (mandolin), Laurel Bliss (resonator guitar) and Mike Schway (fiddle) and their self-titled four-song demo “Cabin Fever” (2003) which received an honorable mention from the Bellingham Herald as the year's best local recording.