Listen to Miles Nielsen and Kelly Steward’s Debut EP, ‘Weep & Willow’

Earlier this year, Miles Nielsen put out Heavy Metal, his third album with the Rusted Hearts, and now he’s got a new project. He and his wife, singer-songwriter Kelly Steward, have joined forces as Weep & Willow, and their self-titled debut EP was released today.

The four tracks on Weep & Willow are a little more nakedly autobiographical than what we’ve heard from Nielsen in the past, and the duo’s harmonies echo the raw intimacy of the work of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, which remain the standard-bearer for Americana duets.

“The first time I saw hope through someone else's eyes, it started with songs, emotions that felt necessary to release,” Nielsen said in a press release. “Sharing the most personal feelings with another person who had open ears and an open heart. The songs and sounds of Weep & Willow are two hearts connected with one thing in common, the love of an honest song. Lyrical honesty of a man and a woman who found each other in a dark corner of life. With a connection that sings, these are two human beings that breathe life, hope, dreams, and love. That is the sound that makes Weep & Willow.”

Steward adds, “Weep & Willow is two lives colliding and finding that their worlds are alive and the harmonies are rich and the songs are real and all makes sense why every step you took brought you here to this very moment to make music.”

The duo get help from two members of the Rusted Hearts, Dave McClellan (bass) and Adam Plamann (keyboards, woodwinds), and Cheap Trick’s drummer Daxx Nielsen, who is Miles’ brother. It was produced the two of them and Duane Lundy at Lundy’s Shangri-La Studios in Lexington, Ky.

In addition to the Soundcloud widget below, Weep & Willow can be purchased or streamed from various services here.

Listen to Weep & Willow

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