The Grahams

When the husband-and-wife duo the Grahams were first beginning to craft their debut album Riverman's Daughter, they went on a 2,500-mile trek up and down the Mississippi River, from Minneapolis to the Louisiana delta, playing little juke joints.

"We played all along the river and some really sketchy places," says Alyssa Graham from the New York City apartment she and her husband Doug call home. "We ended up renting this houseboat in the Atchafalaya Swamp to sort the stockpile of stories we'd come across or things we'd learned and experienced and wrote most of the record there."

However, their plans soon changed. They got a call from her husband's mother. She was ill and didn't have long to live. So Doug and Alyssa Graham packed up and went to care for her. Over the course of that six weeks, the pair offered Doug's mother, Gigi, a preview of the album.

"Those last couple days we'd sit in her room and play her music all day because that kind of soothed her even after she couldn't talk anymore. 'If You're in New York' was her favorite," she says. "When we played it, even after she couldn't speak, we'd watch her flip back to it. We knew she was there."

They began recording just six weeks after she passed, and the album ends with a song dedicated to Gigi, the pretty and haunting "Goodbye Babe (B.C.)." This spare little ode showcases the pristine beauty of Alyssa's voice, which rings crisp as a bell on a cold winter morning. It's a versatile weapon.

Powered by Alyssa's galvanizing voice, Doug's understated strumming, and fine production from producer Malcolm Burn (Emmylou Harris, Kaki King), Riverman's Daughter is a wonderful effort. The album was recorded live in the room with no headphones and no real sound isolation, giving it a very organic, in-the-moment feel that harks back to the old bluegrass records where everyone crowded around one microphone.

"When we first sat down with Malcolm, we sat at the kitchen table and played these songs to him just acoustically, and that's what we wanted to capture," she says. "He's famous for laying these incredibly elaborate beds of sound that you have no idea where it came from. I think it was a fun challenge for him to work in such a simple, sit down, old-fashioned way."

While the album is the first from "The Grahams," it's not Alyssa's first album or even their first album together. In fact, Doug and Alyssa's friendship goes back to childhood. They played in a variety of bands together through and after college, including the Ithaca, N.Y.-psych jam band Blindman's Holiday. They even had major label interest, which they passed on.

Instead she went back to school for a music degree, studying jazz. The style informs her 2005 solo debut, What Love Is and 2008's Echo with noted jazz musician/producer Jon Cowherd. Both explored a jazzy singer-songwriter vibe not far removed from Norah Jones. The 2011 follow-up, Lock, Stock & Soul, peels back the jazzy overtones in favor of quiet, singer-songwriter fare.

Still, they didn't know what they really wanted to do until they got together with another childhood friend, Bryan McCann, and penned "Riverman's Daughter." "When we were done, it was the first time in years we felt like we did sitting in my parent's basement in a circle with all our friends playing acoustic guitars singing Neil Young songs," says Alyssa. "It felt really natural and Doug started harmonizing with me and I started playing guitar and it was really like the old days of just throwing caution to the wind and not having to be perfect. It was nostalgic for us, so we decided this was where we wanted to be and really propelled us down the Mississippi River in search of this made-up riverman and his daughter."

The pair are already making plans for a trip to begin writing the next album. "In order to write a story you need to have experiences," she says. "I don't think we'll ever write a record any other way. I think we'll always try to surround ourselves with the environment that inspires the kinds of songs and stories we're telling.". - Charleston City Paper

Alyssa and Doug Graham have long been musical as well as romantic partners, collaborating on Alyssa’s acclaimed solo albums and playing together on a variety of stages. Now, the duo joins together as The Grahams and is set to release an album of new content this fall entitled Riverman’s Daughter.

The album was produced by Grammy-winner Malcolm Burn, and the content was written by the pair as they traveled the Mississippi River.

Riverman’s Daugher is set for release on Aug. 6, but you can listen to a track from the album, “Revival Time,” in the player below. - PASTE

The Grahams go for a moody, murderous approach in their brand new video, “Cathedral Pines.” A married duo with roots in New York City, Doug and Alyssa Graham were inspired to drive 2,500 miles along the Mississippi River — from Minnesota to Louisiana — to learn more about regional roots music. After that sojourn, they hunkered down in an old houseboat to write the music that wound up on their latest project, Riverman’s Daughter.

While they lived to tell the tale, not all the characters in “Cathedral Pines” are quite so lucky. As the pulpy narrative unfolds, keep an eye out for well-placed words that match up with the lyrics, spotted on everything from dog tags to bartenders. But be prepared to shield your eyes at the end. - CMT Edge

The singer-guitarists Alyssa and Doug Graham have been friends since grade school and romantic partners for most of the time since. At the heart of their relationship has always been a penchant for American roots music: The Carter Family, Mississippi John Hurt, The Band, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young. In the summer of 2012, having long lived and played music in New York City (and the nearby Adirondack Mountains), they had an idea: What if they put their city lives on hold and, armed with just guitars and backpacks, traveled the 2,500 miles of highways and byways of the Mississippi River, from Minnesota to Louisiana. So, they did. The result is theMalcolm Burn-produced, Riverman's Daughter, the husband-and-wife duo's first album as The Grahams, out today through CEN/RED Distribution.

You can stream the album and view the premiere of the new video for "Marnie Hawkins" over at Last.fm.

WATCH: "MARNIE HAWKINS" ON LAST.FM

The Grahams will perform songs from the album as they tour the U.S. this summer and fall. See below for confirmed dates; others will be announced soon.

Alyssa and Doug have played together in a variety of musical endeavors, and have performed at downtown New York City clubs such as Joe's Pub, The Living Room and Rockwood Music Hall, as well as nationally and internationally from California to Paris, London, Tokyo, and beyond. They have collaborated on two Alyssa Graham albums, winning considerable critical acclaim. The New York Times has praised her "sumptuous and flexible croon." American Songwriter called her Lock, Stock & Soul (2012) an "immaculately constructed set" and named her Writer of The Week. Marie Claire magazine showcased her as an "Artist You Need To Hear."

More than anything else in the Grahams' body of work to date, Riverman's Daughter is a unified, fully realized concept album. Alyssa and Doug wrote the 12 songs (and one bonus track) that comprise the work-and many others-as they progressed along the Great River Road that parallels the Mississippi. They stopped in various juke joints, exchanging stories and playing music with the locals. At the end of their journey, they holed up in a houseboat in rural Louisiana where the Mississippi spills into the Atchafalaya swamp, and periodically invited friends and musicians onboard to help them hone the material.


Read more about The Grahams Release 'Riverman's Daughter' Out Today - BWWMusicWorld by www.broadwayworld.com - Broadway World

Alyssa and Doug Graham have long been musical as well as romantic partners, collaborating on Alyssa’s acclaimed solo albums and playing together on a variety of stages. Now, the duo joins together as The Grahams and is set to release an album of new content this fall entitled Riverman’s Daughter.

The album was produced by Grammy-winner Malcolm Burn, and the content was written by the pair as they traveled the Mississippi River.

Riverman’s Daugher is set for release on Aug. 6, but you can listen to a track from the album, “Revival Time,” in the player below. - Paste Magazine

Alyssa and Doug Graham have long been musical as well as romantic partners, collaborating on Alyssa’s acclaimed solo albums and playing together on a variety of stages. Now, the duo joins together as The Grahams and is set to release an album of new content this fall entitled Riverman’s Daughter.

The album was produced by Grammy-winner Malcolm Burn, and the content was written by the pair as they traveled the Mississippi River.

Riverman’s Daugher is set for release on Sept. 3, but you can listen to a track from the album, “Revival Time,” in the player below. - Paste Magazine