The Other Years

The Other Years are Anna Krippenstapel and Heather Summers — two voices riding a single harmonic laser beam, carrying instruments made of wood and skin and bones. They travel light. There is something pure and strong and ancient in their voices. It reminds people of Jean Ritchie or Hazel Dickens or Karen Dalton. The Other Years are time-travelers — but not from the past. They come from the future with songs about how we’re all gonna get through these days. Fiddle, guitar, banjo, and two human voices. Sometimes Heather and Anna sing together, sometimes they trade off. They leave plenty of space for notes to ring out and words to sink in. Maybe you feel like crying. Beautiful things can cause that. “There is no evil, there is human / That river don’t hate, it just does what it's doing”. This album was recorded over three spring days at a cabin outside Louisville, Kentucky. Daniel Martin Moore was the engineer. Anna is Joan Shelley’s longtime fiddle player. The Other Years is Heather’s first band. She’s a spark. There’s plenty of Kentucky cross-pollinating going on. Anna also plays with Freakwater.