Lowland Hum

The work of wife-and-husband team Lauren and Daniel Goans, Lowland Hum are an indie folk duo based in Charlottesville, Virginia whose winsome harmonies, organic approach, and poetic songwriting earned them acclaim following the 2013 release of their debut album Native Air. Over the subsequent years, the pair continued to build a strong grassroots following with heavy touring and independent releases like 2017's Thin and 2019's Glyphonic. Recording in a converted barn on their property, Lowland Hum remained prolific into the next decade, offering up a reimagining of Peter Gabriel's classic So album titled So Low along with a new all-original album, At Home, in 2021. In the year following their 2012 wedding, the Goans' began singing and writing music together, building the collaborative foundation for the brand of warm, earthy folk that would come to fruition on 2015's Native Air, their debut album as Lowland Hum They began touring rigorously, returning in 2014 with the EP Four Sisters. Released in 2015, Lowland Hum's eponymous sophomore album saw an expansion of their sound to include lusher arrangements and a rhythm section, earning praise from major outlets like NPR. They returned to their sparser acoustic arrangement for 2017's Thin and also released a holiday collection, Songs for Christmas Time, later that year. The 2018 EP Early Days compiled a handful of their earliest demos and home recordings and was followed in early 2019 by their fourth full-length, Glyphonic. That same year they developed an immersive live project with collaborators David Wax and Suz Slezak called Golden Hour. After the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to further touring, the Goans began recording in their recently renovated barn, which served as their home studio. This too was interrupted when a tornado struck, damaging the studio. Following a protracted insurance battle and the subsequent birth of their first child, the couple resumed Lowland Hum activity with a 2021 full-album cover of Peter Gabriel's landmark 1986 LP So which they called So Low. Months later, they delivered another album of their own material called At Home. ~ Timothy Monger