One of the reasons I love the neo-folk duo Shovels & Rope is that it’s a husband-wife collaboration – like Sky-Pony. “Bridge on Fire” is one of my favorites of their catalogue. I find it to be a study in how effective simplicity can be. The guitar and drum parts could hardly be more rudimentary, yet I find them surprising effective. They lay an evocative foundation for the raw, reaching vocal lines. These two singers’ voices sound great together. You can tell they have years of experience harmonizing.

This is also the only song I know that rhymes a word with itself and somehow makes it work:
“Our backs were weary / And I had enough / You said ‘I want you to know what you’re walking away from’ / But it was not enough”

Hear Kyle, NYFOS favorite Lauren Worsham, and their band Sky-Pony in our final NYFOS Next concert of the season on May 10 at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.