‘Sew Your Heart With Wires’ is a beautiful duo album from Rod Picott and Amanda Shires; on paper it looks like a simple stripped down disc of Rod's acoustic guitar and Shires' excellent fiddle playing, but the approach they take and the atmosphere they create makes this feel like a timeless classic album of American ballads.
It’s an album that is full of characters and stories; from the gentle love song ‘Mercury’ through the fantastic murder ballad ‘Little Darlin’ this is a disc that holds the listeners’ attention with real song craft.
This is a quiet album from start to finish, but it’s the simplicity that gives the disc the power it has, Rod’s vocals are controlled and restrained and the contrast of his world-weary delivery and Shires’ classic American vocal styles are perfect for these songs.
In the true tradition of American ballads the songs are full of imagery of the US landscape and the stories highlight the lives of real life people, highlights include the contemporary story of ‘Ruby’, the roots-tinged ‘Drive the Devil Out’, and the ultimately bloody tale of ‘Little Darlin’.
As an album full of character and atmosphere, ‘Sew Your Heart With Wires’ is one of the best of it’s kind and full of songs of real quality – a contemporary album with a classic feel.

Track listing
1 Mercury
2 Drive That Devil Out
3 You Can't Call Me Baby
4 Shake and Cry
5 Salida
6 Little Darlin'
7 Arrows On Your Compass
8 Ruby
9 When You Get Your Story Told
10 Bird and Pony

£12.99