The Lowest Pair. Fans already know that the chemistry between Palmer’s Midwestern charm, those long winters spent listening to a steady diet of Townes Van Zandt and John Hartford, and Kendl’s poetic and playful way with words, her unique approach to the banjo, and her barefoot-in- the-cool-river-water mystique combine to make a powerful sound, but what’s new in 2016 is both the inclusion of those non-banjo sounds (harmonica, drum, bass, violin) and an incredible expansion of their songbook. In a way, two records, the playful and the hush, the dark and the rooted, the pillow and the nightmare, the pin drop and the starry night; the juxtaposition of the ups and downs that are experiences in a day, in a year, in a minute, all this has demanded from the band more than just “a new record.” Fern Girl and Ice Man and Uncertain As It Is Uneven mark the arrival of America’s next great musical duo, and it’s over the course of these two albums that that boast becomes clearly rooted in truth.
Roses & Cigarettes formed in Los Angeles in 2013 when the country cover band that Jenny Pagliaro was singing in auditioned Angela Petrilli for a vacant guitar position. Pagliaro and Petrilli immediately bonded over their desire to perform original material and similar tastes in music - from the classics like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Bonnie Raitt; to more contemporary artists like Patty Griffin, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert. It was a mutual love of singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne and his song Roses and Cigarettes that inspired the name of the band.
