Our series with Sherwood’s Music — showcasing local musicians through stripped-down performances for the web — is returning for a limited run this summer. This week Rachel Waterhouse and Brian Kirk of Sister Ivy perform “Citiphonica.”
Even if you don’t recognize her name, you’ve likely seen Waterhouse on an Asheville stage or heard her voice on a local recording project. The singer and pianist’s musical partnerships have included stints with RBTS Win, V.O.V., Total War, Deloused, Phish and Chips, The Procrastinators, Fieldtrip, The Imperative, Makayan, Amandla and Brynn Estelle.
“My first musical instrument was a karaoke machine,” Waterhouse tells Xpress. “I recorded terrible songs on cassette tapes and recorded over them with more terrible songs and more and more and more, until I bought a piano with my paper route money.
“It took me five years to make all the payments, but I did it, and it was a good thing because I was not good at making friends during that period,” she continues. “That piano probably saved my life.”
Sister Ivy is essentially Waterhouse’s solo project with guest performers — and her first time stepping into the role of frontwoman. Though the project is in its “fetal stages,” she says she plans to slowly flesh out her songs “through a process of collaboration with other musicians as I run into them.” Guitarist Brian Kirk (who you may recognize as the keyboardist for Morbids) joined Waterhouse for this set.
Sister Ivy’s songs will flow onto its SoundCloud page as they emerge, but in the meantime you can also check out Waterhouse’s “weird electronic experiments” under the moniker Goodbye, Terror. As for Kirk, you can catch him and the rest of Morbids at Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh next month. The group is also in the process of recording a new album.
This web video series is produced by Mountain Xpress and Sherwood’s Music, a local, independent repair and consignment shop specializing in modern and vintage gear. Sherwood’s is located at 180 Patton Ave.
Sister Ivy performing Citiphonica at Sherwood’s Music. Video by Carrie Eidson and Sarah Whelan
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