After an extended hiatus, longtime frontwomen Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean reconvened for a minitour in 2014, and a taste for co-creating unpolished folk- and country-tinted tunes was revived. Scheherazade — their group Freakwater’s first album in 10 years (and eighth since forming nearly three decades ago) — builds on what Pitchfork describes in part as an enduring “Appalachian gothic tone.” The new work comes peppered with pedal steel, mandola, fiddle, alto flute and cello, thanks to a troupe of collaborators. Evan Patterson (Jaye Jayle) and part-time Ashevillean Morgan Greer (Drunken Prayer) also contribute guitar parts on Scheherazade, and those two acts open for Freakwater at The Grey Eagle on Friday, March 11, at 9 p.m. $15/$18. thegreyeagle.com. Photo by Tim Furnish Horiz
Smart bets: Freakwater
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