Hum & Hollow set to release debut album November 21, 2015.

By Matt Carter @m_j_c73

I first heard of Hum & Hollow this past summer. Great band name, I thought. I wonder who’s in the band. It wasn’t until Folly Fest that I realized Hum & Hollow is a duo. For whatever reason, I always assume every band has three or more players. The duo format is never a go-to thought for me. I don’t know why. It’s kind of rude (or maybe just naive) to assume that every band follows a traditional configuration. I don’t even know if that’s why my mind goes straight to thinking of a full ensemble. Maybe it’s just because there are more bands with more players than bands with just two. Either way, yes, I was surprised to hear this group was a duo and more importantly, I was surprised to hear this group. Period. Hum & Hollow are unlike any other group playing in Fredericton right now.

Guitarist Alex Cook’s use of open tunings and rhythmic strumming form the foundation for Hum & Hollow’s sound, a sound driven in many directions by the range and strength of Brooke Burns’ voice. Together, they confidently demonstrate the authority that can come from such a simple configuration – voice and guitar. The pairing feels effortless.

“It started last fall,” said Burns. “We started writing a little bit of acoustic music. Alex basically writes the guitar and I’ll come up with the lyrics and melodies. We ended up coming up with a lot of material pretty quick so we thought why not start up a project for the winter and record an album.”

The two spent much of the past year writing and arranging the music that makes up their debut release, Circles in the Wood. Throughout much of the band’s material, Hum & Hollow choose to avoid traditional song structures, allowing for each lyric and melody to guide itself through changes in tempo and timing, resulting in a unique interpretation of Celtic and traditional folk influences.

“I feel like it was very experimental,” said Burns. “I guess we were sort of trying to find our sound. We recorded it ourselves, literally just learning as we went. It was super fun and we learned a lot.”

After almost a year of writing and performing, the folk-powered duo will be releasing their much-anticipated debut album on November 21, 2015.

“We are super excited that the album is finished,” said Burns. “It feels good to know that we made the decision to do this together and by ourselves. When we opened the box of CD’s it felt extremely good to see all our work done and sitting in our hands. The writing the recording and the artwork for the album was all done my both Alex and I. We dedicated it to all independent artists, to which we know a lot.”