''Barton Hollow'' is the first full-length studio album from

the Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White had solo careers prior ...

. Produced by

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

, it was released on February 1, 2011. It peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Digital Albums chart, No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200, No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Folk Albums chart, and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Rock Albums chart, selling 25,000 copies in its first week. , the album has sold 623,000 copies in the US. Barton Hollow was preceded by the lead single and title track, which was performed live on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' on January 14, 2011. A track on this album, "Poison and Wine" was previously released as a single from their EP ''

Poison & Wine The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White had solo careers prior ...

'' in 2009. On November 30, 2011, ''Barton Hollow'' was nominated for Grammys in the

Best Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the folk genre. Honors in several ...

and Best Country Duo/Group Performance categories, the latter for the title song. The album ended up winning both awards. Numerous publications noted that the Civil Wars were snubbed a Best New Artist nomination by

The Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. At the ceremony the Civil Wars performed a portion of " Barton Hollow". The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed at

United Record Pressing United Record Pressing (founded as Southern Plastics) is a vinyl pressing plant located in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been in operation since 1949. United has pressed records for such artists as The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Ja ...

in Nashville, TN.

Critical reception

''Barton Hollow'' was included on the 2011 Best Album lists of NPR Music, ''

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'', ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'', '' Rough Trade'',

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, ''

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'', iTunes, ''

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'',

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, ''

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'',

AllMusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and more. Andrew Leahey of AllMusic said that Williams and White "trace each other's melodies with close harmonies that never fail to lose their romance". He gave ''Barton Hollow'' four of five star and called it "Good stuff". Darren Lee of MusicOMH also gave four of five stars, saying "The album's songs of love, loss and longing are an immediate pleasure to listen to, displaying real restraint in a disc that it is pleasingly sparse and unembellished." In 2017 it was ranked No. 66 in ''Paste'' magazine's "The 100 Best Indie Folk Albums" list.

Track listing

All songs written by Joy Williams and

John Paul White John Paul White (born August 4, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter, and was a member of the Grammy Award-winning duo The Civil Wars. He restarted his solo career with his 2016 release, ''Beulah''. Early life White was born in Muscle Shoals ...

, except where noted. The two bonus tracks are available with electronic versions of the album, but not on the CD. An extended version of ''Barton Hollow'' was released in Europe through Sony Music on March 1, 2012, which contained the 12 tracks included with the North American release, the 2 bonus tracks from the electronic version, plus 4 additional tracks.

Personnel

Listed in AllMusic. * Joy Williams: lead vocals, background vocals, piano,

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...

organ,

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

s *

: lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator guit ...

, banjo, bass guitar * Andy Leftwich: fiddle, mandolin * David Davidson: violin * John Catchings: cello * Jerry McPherson: electric guitar *

J.T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 n ...

: electric guitar *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

: pedal steel guitar * Tim Lauer: keyboards, synthesizer,

keyboard bass Keyboard bass (shortened to keybass and sometimes referred as a synth-bass) is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the deep notes of a bass guitar or double bass ...

, organ, "tiny keyboard" *

: electric piano, trumpet, producer, additional engineering *

Barry Bales Barry Turner Bales (born August 23, 1969 in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States) is an American musician best known as the long time bass player and harmony vocalist for Alison Krauss and Union Station. He has been in the band for around 25 years ...

: double bass * Ken Lewis: percussion * Richie Biggs: engineer, mixer * Richard Dodd: mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

* Did not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums The Civil Wars albums Albums produced by Charlie Peacock