Album Notes

Kentucky singer-songwriters Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover comprise this duo.
Of their music, Acoustic Guitar magazine says "Their spare arrangements and unwavering harmonies evoke Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (and generations of singers before them)."

Birds Fly South, produced by Grammy-nominated instrumentalist Bruce Molsky, features the artists themselves on guitar, clawhammer banjo, and lap dulcimer, along with mandolinist Mike Compton (Nashville Bluegrass Band/Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack), guitarist Greg Martin(The Kentucky Headhunters), and others.

On this CD you'll find lively originals about truck-stop waitresses, adoption, and a mountain boy's search for spirituality, a revisiting of the traditional "Shady Grove" from the perspective of a mixed-race couple, introspective and soulful versions of classic traditional ballads, and some mountain-steeped covers of fiddle tunes and gospel songs from the artists' childhoods.

Mitch and Carla have performed with Mark Schatz, Si Kahn, David Grier, Tony Furtado, and Dirk Powell. They have opened for notables like: Arlo Guthrie, John Prine, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, and Dar Williams.

Zoe Speaks' mission is to preserve the best elements of Appalachian music, while adding to the tradition and allowing it to change and grow.