The Early Mays

The early Mays "...bring traditional and original material to spectacular life"

Cindy Howes | Folk Alley, WYEP

Somewhere on the border between old-time music and modern American songwriting, The Early Mays have built a band with harmonies that feel like home. It’s a partnership that has shared slow-burning, perfectly paired vocals for ten years—from NPR’s Mountain Stage to house concerts all over the mid-Atlantic. When they crossed paths in Pittsburgh, Ellen Gozion and Emily Pinkerton felt a resonance between their styles. It wasn’t just the ballads and banjo tunes they had in common, it was a similar stage presence–understated and inviting. It was also a similar sense of purpose: putting their voices in the service of the song. This year, The Early Mays release Prettiest Blue, their fifth album and a follow-up to Chase the Sun (#1 Album, National Folk-DJ Charts, August 2016) and their 1st place finish in the Neo-Traditional Competition at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival (2016).

“I think part of our aesthetic comes from being introspective people,” Ellen reflects, “We don’t have a flashy, fast sound, but if you let the music engulf you, there are lots of layers. Our songs give people a place to slow down.”

“The Early Mays rehearsals are restorative for me,” adds Emily, “The hours spent in Ellen’s living room, with coffee and dark chocolate, following the harmonies wherever they take us, laughing and just loving that exploration as much as we love singing for other people. I hope you can hear the joy of the process in Prettiest Blue.” From the old-time music community, Ellen and Emily have absorbed the culture of deep listening that’s central to playing with sensitivity. “Revivalists like us–who didn’t live and breathe Appalachian music growing up–still learn and create by ear for the most part. Being able to carry hours of tunes in my head was life-changing. And there is new meaning to uncover each time you return to a field recording, or slowly build a relationship with a mentor.”

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That practice of deep listening–and slow, careful craftsmanship–spills over into every Early Mays performance and production. The duo strives to sculpt a warm, immersive sound. “We gravitate to beautiful spaces when we gig, and are always on the lookout for halls, churches or galleries that have a special acoustic identity. Then we boost that natural sound with just a touch of amplification,” explains Emily.

When recording albums, the band has explored everything from a single condenser mic in a church sanctuary (Out Under the Sky, 2012), to analog tape and vintage compressors (The Early Mays, 2014 and Chase the Sun, 2017 at Lurch Rudyk’s Broadcast Lane Studios). For Prettiest Blue, Emily and Ellen were looking for a particularly pared down, “in the room” sound. They recorded at Audible Images in Pittsburgh, PA with Hollis Greathouse, and combined live takes with multi-tracked vocals and cello. Drawn by Alex Perialas’ work on Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton’s latest release, The Mays decided to mix at Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, NY. “Alex gave the mixes the exact acoustic blend we’d been hunting for, transparent and lush at the same time” adds Ellen.

Cellist Nicole Myers joins the Mays on Prettiest Blue, lending sweeping melodic lines to support the vocals and old-time textures. She is a founding member of Cello Fury (www.cellofury.com), an ensemble that bridges rock and classical music. “Her flexibility as a player has made this project especially poignant. She always adds the right emotion to the song,” says Emily. “She’s a beautiful collaborator,” adds Ellen, “and she takes the time to understand our music inside and out.” The deep tones of the cello are a match made in heaven for banjo, harmonium (portable pump organ) and fiddle arrangements that underpin “crystal-clear voices” and “stunning harmony lines” (Adam Hurt).

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The Mays have spent most of their professional lives as musicians. Ellen is a pianist for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and a Music Director at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. In the world of old-time, she has made a name for herself as a ballad singer (Awake, Awake, 2005). This trajectory comes across on Prettiest Blue in the newly-composed “Ballad of Johnny Fall,” a dark tale of a man whose eyes were “once the prettiest blue.” Ellen is also a master of the “crankie,” paintings or papercuttings that are “cranked” to create moving, musical panoramas. She has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center and founded the Pittsburgh Crankie Festival: “It feels like a tremendous gift that every day of my life is filled with music-making.” 

Emily has lived a bit of a double life in music, dedicating two decades to Chilean folk song, including three years overseas and several collaborations with South American artists: “Even when I’m writing with my banjo, traditional singing from Chile creeps into my rhythm and rhyme. You can hear hints of this in “On a Dying Day’ where the lyrics roll back and forth like waves.” The other side of Emily’s double life has given birth to chamber music compositions like Rounder Songs (New Amsterdam Records, 2017) for voice, banjo + NOW ensemble and Looking for Violeta (2019) for Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh. She currently teaches songwriting in the Music Industry program at the College of Saint Rose.

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For The Early Mays, the past ten years have been a steady search for musical and spiritual sustenance: for themselves and for their listeners. “Prettiest Blue is about keeping your eyes trained on something brighter, even in the midst of sadness,” reflects Emily. A decade of friendship is palpable in the co-arranged songs, as well as the dedication to craft and the sustained pursuit of a rich acoustic aesthetic. You may find yourself comfortably swaying in that neo-traditional space–somewhere between old-time and songwriter sensibilities–getting a glimpse of how much these songs have been cared for.