The Price Sisters
Artist Information
For The Price Sisters, and their new LP, Between the Lines, the familiar adage rings as truly as ever: the third time is, indeed, a charm. Rich in the bluegrass tradition, yet equally versed in country balladry, folk Americana, string bands, Gospel, and even indie blues-rock, the 15-song dazzler reflects a wealth of fresh ideas and precocious wisdom coursing through twin siblings, Leanna Price and Lauren Price Napier. With its arresting melodies intertwined in lush and dexterous harmonies, and supported by the finest of contemporary talent- not to mention some masterful special guests- this brilliant third effort from the duo not only revives and reflects the roots of the art form, but expands, with conscious reverence, upward and outward, budding with ambitious intent.
The Price Sisters’ story begins on family farmland in eastern Ohio, across the Ohio River from their West Virginia neighbors, in a community defined by industrious persistence and tightly-held belief. And plenty of music. Raised by parents who continually sang old-time country songs to the pair, no sooner had the two learned to speak were Lauren and Leanna delighting in their own sibling-taut harmony.
As youths, they voraciously attended bluegrass festivals and workshops. By their teenage years, they were each accomplished vocalists and players- Leanna, on fiddle; Lauren, on mandolin- signing up with Rebel Records for their eponymous 2016 EP debut. With the release of their first LP, 2018’s A Heart Never Knows, they’d each become IBMA-award nominees, and bandleaders for a group assembled to tour in support of the album. Just as 2020 approached, with thoughts of a new record, the COVID-19 global pandemic shut down the world.
It was an anxious and introspective time for artists, and especially for this pair of recent Morehead State University graduates who’d evolved leaps as musicians, yet whose livelihoods relied on an audience. The delay sharpened their focus. For a third record, they would employ their now well-seasoned, IBMA-nominated touring group- Conner Vlietstra on guitar, Trevor Holder on banjo, and Bobby Osborne II on upright bass- as their band in the studio. (Additionally, Dennis Crouch provided upright bass.)
As for producers, their dream list had Ronnie McCoury at the top. The venerable mandolinist had become a mentor and friend over the past decade, first meeting the twins at the DelFest Academy, a week-long bluegrass instructional camp coinciding with the annual DelFest event celebrating the music of Ronnie’s father, and bluegrass icon, Del McCoury. Ronnie had guested on guitar for the Sisters’ EP, as well, and agreed to produce the forthcoming sessions.
“We love what Ronnie does in the bluegrass realm, but also beyond that,” says Lauren.
Decamping to The Tractor Shed in Goodlettsville, Tennessee in the fall of 2021, the sisters and McCoury discussed potential song choices. Meticulously, they honed a track list that included road-tested staples, original instrumentals, and more than a few challenging suggestions from McCoury. As lead vocalist, Leanna was devoted to pursuing lyrics she connected to and could deliver genuinely.
The quintet set-up and tracked live as a band. They worked rather quickly, capturing the magic of first or second takes as often as possible. The result is a 15-song collection that beautifully bridges the progressive diversity of their repertoire with the old-soul customs of the genre.
“We wanted to make something that we felt really put our stamp on the industry; that we felt proud of every aspect of it,” Leanna says.
The album opens with “Midnight,” and a rush of feverish strings and instantly reassuring harmonies that rev up, downshift, and accelerate again on the mid-20th century country tune from Red Foley. There is the spirited take on Benny Martin’s bluegrass, “I Can Read Between The Lines In Your Letters,” adopted popularly by the duo of Jim and Jesse, and serves as the inspiration for the album’s title. And there is “The Harvest,” a composition from the legendary Peter Rowan (who graces this performance with his harmony vocals), that resonated so strongly with Leanna and Lauren, reminding them both of family time at the patriarchal Ohio homestead. Additionally, the track features The Travelin’ McCourys’ Jason Carter, on fiddle; an early influence of Leanna’s.
Next, Ronnie aligns daddy Del with Rowan for the brief and cheeky, “Del and Pete Go To The Pickin’,” then reprises Del for a vocal turn on the subsequent cap-tip to Bill Monroe, “There’s A Song In There Somewhere,” with Carter guesting on twin fiddle with Leanna. Co-written by Cowboy Jack Clement and Don Robertson, it remained unrecorded by any artist until now.
Lauren pays tribute to the matriarchal side of the family with her instrumental debut, “Tuel’s Landing,” honoring the early Ohio River ferry port, as McCoury joins the fun, sharing mandolin harmony lines and flashing a solo. Then, on McCoury’s recommendation, the pair nod to another Ohio-bred duo, with a haunting reading of The Black Keys’ “Ten Cent Pistol.” The indie blues cut also showcases the always-stellar dobro work of Ohio native, Jerry Douglas, in addition to his cameos on “The Harvest” and “When I’m Not Thinking About You.”
There’s the rambling and dark, live-set staple “Deep River,” popularized by Bill Emerson, and the first of three songs on the record written by West Coast singer-songwriter Kathy Kallick, “What Am I Gonna Do,” that features Lauren as lead vocalist. There’s the happy bounce of Leanna’s instrumental homage to her pet bunny’s escapades, “Rabbit In The Rosebush,” countered by the sedate and affecting “The Gospel Ship,” a public domain entry that harkens back to the practice of shape-note singing and the Baptist balladry of Hazel Dickens and Ginny Hawker.
The sisters tap into the folk poetry of David Francey on “When I’m Not Thinking About You,” followed by two more from Kallick- the Lauren-led “In Dreams,” a classic-sounding cut that belies its age, and “Don’t Mind Me”- the latter, a metaphoric bookend to “Ten Cent Pistol” that Leanna found particularly empowering. The album closes, similarly as it began, with steaming bluegrass strings and note-perfect harmony across the Delmore Brothers’ “Weary Lonesome Blues.”
Between the Lines is an album of strength and confidence. It is an album of experiences collected, boundary lines blurred or even erased, and new territory eager to explore. As Leanna summarized so well, “This is how I wanted to sound my whole entire life.”
Stay In Touch
Skip the FOMO, we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing! Sign up for exclusive updates, events, and offers – just for fans like you.