DBT #343 "Skyline" - The Starlight Darlins

 

These four musicians have been weaved into the blog a few times, plus individually they include Gray Buchanan on fiddle, Sage Christie on guitar, Emily Johnson-Erday on banjo, and Lauren Oxford on bodhran.  Together I believe they were born with a help of a John McCutcheon workshop, now that's pretty cool to have a legend be a reason you are a band.

When I saw they had released their first studio produced EP, it was a matter of seconds that lapsed from the email to the purchase in Bandcamp, and I was not disappointed.  First up was a cover of Sage Christie's award winning song "Northland" So let's get started.

1) Northland

Since this is the song that got Sage (Siena at the time) placed and winning the Great River Folk Fest Songwriter contest; and as Sage describes it for the EP, I too find it transforming as each new voice is blended into the song I already loved so much.

“Dear Northland” was inspired by two things: a song prompt in Matt Meighan’s songwriting class, and the loneliness of quarantine. The prompt was to write a song using three randomly assigned words. Mine were “porcelain,” “antimony,” and “hood.” I had no clue what to do, so I went for a drive into the countryside, where I found solace in watching other humans just existing. Then I went home and wrote the song using all three words. Hearing it sung by my fellow Darlins has transformed it for me.

2) In Waves

The fiddle and banjo intro has you expecting a good old timey bluegrass piece, and you aren't wrong; then this memory worm for a chorus in perfect four part harmony.  

all of this, it comes and goes in waves
all my sins will follow to my grave

Gray did a heck of a job on the writing and I love when artist's pull back the curtain on the inspiration:

This song took three years to write, tear apart, rewrite, tear apart again, and finally reconstruct into its final state. It could only be truly completed through the personal growth that “In Waves” spells out as necessary – we must learn to accept that the past is in the past in order to take control of our futures.

3) Watch The Water Rise

With that excellent banjo intro you would expect it be coming from the artist who goes by "The Banjo Witch" on IG.  This song definitely gives me goose bumps when the crescendo is hit with all the voices singing.  Emily provides a long description of influence, and I love the writing lesson too.

The day before Hurricane Helene decimated Appalachia in late September 2024, I was on the phone with my mom, telling her I missed North Carolina, missed my family and my music community, and wanted to be there more often. The next day, I couldn’t reach her, or my brother in Asheville, or Sage in Weaverville. I sat alone in my Brooklyn bedroom most of the night watching water pull apart buildings on the news, til I turned it off and made myself write.

One lesson I took from our songwriting class with John McCutcheon is to strive for your songs to be useful. What are they doing? Mulling this over, I started second guessing the direction I was going. Does the world even need my anger right now? I reached out to John, who texted me, “Sometimes anger is a disguise. Strip it back and see what else is there.” I sat with that until fear and a sense of betrayal emerged, followed by a whole heap of guilt. We were told our region was a haven! But knowing that my home being a haven means nothing when any other place isn’t – that brought me back to anger.

We’ve known about climate change for decades. Why have our systems let us down like this? Why were we told our home was a climate haven if it wasn’t true, and why did we accept that we’d need one at all?

lyrics

4) Wide-Open

Ok they are a democratic bunch so you would figure Lauren is up next as the songwriter, and you would be correct.  Each writer has a slightly different feel in this EP, and Lauren like the others has such crisp warm voice, yet the arrangements are so well thought out bringing each voice around you.  Yes if you aren't taking at least one listen to this EP with headphones you are missing so much.  Lauren writes again of John's workshop in the inspiration background:

This song was the result of our final assignment for John McCutcheon’s masterclass camp in 2023: everybody put their name in a hat, drew, and then had to write a song for that person. There were ten of us total, and I was hoping to get anyone but a Darlin! For me at least, writing for someone you know intimately is somehow harder than writing for someone you just met. Of course, I drew Sage’s name—the person I knew best out of everyone—but I am SO GLAD that’s what ended up happening.

During the two weeks we had after camp to write our songs, Sage started their move from the Pacific Northwest all the way to their new home in Appalachia. “Wide-Open” is many things—an exploration of the excitement & trepidation of moving, a love letter to a dear friend & the region they chose to make their home, and a promise that our friendship and love for each other will always be there, no matter what. It’s also the first song I wrote FOR the Darlins, and it wasn’t truly finished until the four of us sat down and worked out the harmonies and instrumental bits together.

5) Skyline

Emily takes the songwriting on the fifth and most memorable song; and likely because it's a capella.  I hope you have those headphones on and be prepared for chills and goosebumps.  Thank you for the song of hope.

On our second tour as the Darlins, we flew to Oregon to play a set of shows for Sage’s community. I’d heard about the rain up there, but wasn’t quite prepared for the near constant-ness of the gloom.

Looking out the window of Sage’s car on the way from Portland to Mt. Hood, I was thinking about the crummy weather, and our crummy world, and friends who were struggling with their mental health, and noticed one little patch of blue sky following us from a distance, just near the horizon.

lyrics

The Darlins' also took the song for a Tiny Desk submission and we are the lucky ones.

Ok let's end this little review walk through of one of the best EP's of this young 2025 with the details of how they describe themselves and the recording details:

With their first official studio EP, Skyline, queer Appalachian folk quartet The Starlight Darlins have introduced themselves as a band that isn’t afraid to dive deep. In shimmering four-part harmony, songwriters Gray Buchanan (they/them), Sage Christie (they/them), Emily Johnson-Erday (she/her), and Lauren Oxford (she/her) trace a path from loneliness to climate anger to finding comfort in friendship and vulnerability. Skyline is their testament to hope in the face of darkness.

credits

released February 7, 2025

Recorded by Cj Rhen at Blues Alley Studios in Morgantown, West Virginia
Mixed by Sage Christie at home in Candler, North Carolina
Mastered by Eric Distad at Sidekicks Studios in Oregon City, Oregon
Photography by Carrie Schlecht
Design & layout by Lauren Oxford

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