Mountain Man is an American singing trio of women described as "nestled in the tradition of American folk"[5] with a traditional Appalachian folk sound. They have earned acclaim from a number of music critics.[6][7][8] They often sing a cappella, with a "sparse, haunting, hymnal beauty"[6] sometimes accompanied by soft acoustic guitar, but with their voices "virtually unadorned", according to Guardian critic Paul Lester.[7] The group toured with the vocalist Feist in 2011,[3] and New York Times music reviewer Ben Ratliff described their performance as "creating shifting harmonies" which "worked perfectly".[9]
History
The three members of the group are Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath.[2] They met as students at Bennington College in Vermont and began singing seriously together in 2009.[2] (They were invited back to Bennington a decade later in 2019 to be the commencement speakers.[10])Two come from "singing families" and one got experience singing in a church choir.[2] They were influenced in part by Bulgarian women's choir music, as well as artists such as Celine Dion.[2] According to one report, they would sit on the porch of a shared house in Bennington and harmonize on songs they had written; when they sang as a trio, they realized it was "something special."[11] Self-released recordings were picked up by influential blogs such as Pitchfork in late 2009, and they got a record deal[11] with the label Partisan and others.[1] They've been compared to the musical group The Roches.[2]
While they make decisions as a group, often they divide responsibilities, with Meath often assuming the "manager role," Sarlé handling finances, and Sauser-Monnig deciding matters about sound quality in recordings, according to the group in an interview on NPR.[2] They toured the country after graduating from college by riding in a car which they named Delores. Their first album is entitled Made the Harbor on the label Partisan Records (North America), Bella Union (Europe), Spunk (Australia), and P-Vine (Japan). They toured with The Decemberists and with Jónsi.[2] They toured in Europe. One of their folk harmony songs was converted into electropop by multi-instrumentalist Paul Duncan of Warm Ghost.[12]
Look at Me Don’t Look at Me, a live album recorded in November 2018, was released in August 2020.[13]
Washington Post music critic David Malitz described their voices as "nectar-sweet" which was almost "jarring in its simplicity" with no distractions from the trio's voices.[8]New York Times music critic Nate Chinen described their sound as "sparse, bewitching twist on Appalachian music"[14] with a feeling of "willful, collective intuition."[15] Their music sounds as if it's "being sung by ghosts", "spectral and spooky", when they echo "folk songs about the forest" as well as "the bedroom".[1]National Public Radio gave a similar account and described their music as weaving "voices into a stark, reverent and unadorned sound that can be hauntingly beautiful."[16]
Other reactions include:
Long on ghostly voices and skeletal arrangements, the music made by Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath on their Made The Harbor album – recorded in an abandoned factory – sounds like a cousin to that made in Bon Iver's snowbound bolt hole. Impressively, Mountain Man have created a music from another time and place, a closed environment they're now opening up to all.
The tunes — despite being originals written in the last two years — sound like they could be early-century hymns, or covers of protofolk tunes gleaned from old Smithsonian field recording compilations. Mountain Man's sound would have the listener assuming its members are old-timey Appalachian maidens, rather than coeds touring in a Prius.
Sauser-Monnig released her debut solo album, Dawnbreaker, under the name Daughter of Swords in July 2019.[18]Molly Sarlé released her debut solo album, entitled Karaoke Angel, in September 2019.[19] Amelia Meath is a member of the electronic duo Sylvan Esso which has released four full-length albums, the most recent being No Rules Sandy, released August 2022.[20] In addition, Meath and Sarle contribute their vocal talents to the indie music group BOBBY.[21] In 2022, Meath and Sauser-Monnig formed The A's, who released their debut album, Fruit, in July 2022.[22]
^ abAmanda Hatfield (September 9, 2011). "Mountain Man backing Feist on tour (dates)". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 2011-09-19. It's recently been announced that Feist is taking Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath, aka the voices of folk trio Mountain Man, on tour with her this fall ...
^Ben Ratliff (November 3, 2011). "A Voice of Gray Moods, Joined by 100 Whistlers". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-13. The women sang isolated parts and created steady shifting harmonies ... Their sound worked perfectly here...
^Nate chinen (August 1, 2011). "The 3 Women of Mountain Man, in Perfect Harmony". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-19. The lack of amplification was a reminder, if any were needed, of rural Vermont... willful, collective intuition
