Virginia on Their Minds
Lynn Scharf has spent most of her young career mapping out the territories of endangered animal species. Charlotte Formichella works for the National Park Service, gauging the impact of man's "sonic debris" on the wilderness. Those are their day jobs, anyway.
In their off-hours, the Colorado- based twentysomethings, known collectively as Driftwood Fire, have found the time to master multiple instruments, write award-winning songs, and earn a valued spot on the indie music festival circuit. Growing up in rural Virginia, Scharf and Formichella tromped about its forests and swam its lakes while absorbing a rich music tradition at events like the Saturday-night bluegrass dance at the local firehouse.
The sound on their debut CD, How to Untangle a Heartache, out this month, will draw obvious comparisons to the Indigo Girls and Gillian Welch, but the influences of the Carter Family and Earl Scruggs are also apparent in compositions featuring such typically Appalachian instruments as the banjo and the accordion. Musings on relationships intermingle with meditations on coal mines.
Visit driftwoodfire.com for concert dates and venues.
