The Paducah Parks Services free summer RIVERfront Concert Series kicks off tonight (May 28) with Louisville group Harpeth Rising and local group The Wheelhouse Rousters. On Sounds Good, Tracy Ross speaks with Jordana Greenberg, lead singer and violinist of Harpeth Rising, about their new album, their move to Louisville and their performance tonight on the river in Paducah.
Harpeth Rising's new album, Shifted, comes out August 15. Jordana Greenberg says they decided to be the only ones playing on this album, to feature the band's core trio. They got the name from the river in Nashville, though they recently moved to Louisville - as something rooted deeply but with the capacity to change. The band met while working on their classical performance degrees at IU in Indiana. This classical training appears often in their music, she says, because it's something they're passionate about. They also have an Eastern European flair, which isn't intentional, but rather natural as it's part of their heritage.
"When you're writing original music you're drawing on everything that you've learned in an academic sense and everything that you feel emotionally, but also you're drawing on things that are part of your blood."
Harpeth Rising plays tonight at 7, after The Wheelhouse Rousters. They bring high energy to their live shows, she says, interacting with audience, telling stories, and playing a variety of music including unique interpretations of familiar tunes.