Press Release
Source: Mark Pucci Media
Canadian-based folk/Americana duo Peach & Quiet announce a January 20, 2023, release date for their new CD, Beautiful Thing, on their own Peach & Quiet Music label.
Prior to the album’s release, Peach & Quiet will release a series of single tracks from the new disc: November 7 – “Horse & Saddle” single (with live video); November 28 – “This Time” single (with live video); January 4 – “Calgary Skyline” single; and January 20 – “Beautiful Thing” title track single, with full production video.
Beautiful Thing is a collection of 12 original songs containing elements of Americana, blues, rock and overtones of 1970s psychedelic rock that came from Laurel Canyon. The new album was produced and backed up with electric, pedal steel and slide guitar by Nashville-based string wizard Steve Dawson (Henhouse Studios), and features an additional line-up of star players: Chris Gestrin (keys), Jeremy Holmes (bass) and Gary Craig (drums).
“These 12 songs are direct from our hearts and home, and took flight from the dust and grit of our lives,” Heather Read says. “Seeded in a dark time, in the depth of lockdown, they are being released as we are coming back into the light. We lost dear friends and family in this time, but we found hope and light in our grief, and we moved toward the light as a moth does to the flame. The cover art is an African Peach Moth, and was created to honor the loss of our dear friend, famed album designer Michael Wrycraft, who designed our last album and was set to design this one too.
“Beautiful Thing is also special to us because we were able to work with the inimitable Steve Dawson and his Henhouse crew again. The gorgeous vibe of these incredible players, from Gary Craig on drums (Jann Arden, Anne Murray), Jeremy Holmes adding his amazing groovy bass (Be Good Tanyas, Jim Byrnes), the legendary Vancouver talent Chris Gestrin on keys (too many artists to list!), and recording at Steve’s remote sister studio in Vancouver, with Juno-winning recording engineer Sheldon Zeharko. Steve was there with us step-by-step, (even if remotely) crafting every fine detail with his sonic wizardry. We are so excited to release these songs into the world.”
As one reviewer said, this duo “sounds like they have been playing together for 30 years.” So, it’s hard to believe that it was only in 2019 that Jonny Miller and Heather Read found each other – emotionally, spiritually and musically. They quickly discovered the joy of singing, playing and writing together, with Heather’s clear alto a perfect foil to Jonny’s slightly gritty “character voice.”
Two years ago, the duo Peach & Quiet, reached out to the world from their log home on Canada’s West Coast with their debut album, Just Beyond the Shine. In a few short months, that record topped the folk and roots music charts in North America and had airplay around the world. Reviewers raved, calling it “a basket of surprises,” “superb,” “sublime” and “utterly original.” The album received praise across Canada, the U.S.A., Britain and Europe, and hit four best-of-the-year lists. One of their songs, “Flowers Grow,” was even translated into Chinese. Just Beyond the Shine was also named BBC Scotland’s Record of the Week.
Jonny Miller and Heather Read – lmage by T. Kenta Kikuchi
Heather and Jonny were both born to play music. Her dad was an active Hammond organ player well into his eighties, and played gigs four nights a week for nearly 70 years, even opening for an up-and-coming singer named Tom Jones in his native Wales. Heather sang with him at legion halls when she was four. She took a long break from music to pursue a master’s degree and to work in the publishing industry, which she currently does by day. She moved to Victoria, BC, in 2013 and returned to her music by night, starting several local folk bands and songwriter circles.
Jonny grew up on the West Coast and was steeped in music from an early age. His mom was the first female radio engineer in Western Canada and worked at Co-op Radio in Vancouver. His dad is a reggae DJ in the U.S. and introduced Jonny to reggae and California rock as a very young child. Jonny remembers sleeping under a table at a Bob Marley sound check. He started earning a name as a singer-songwriter 30 years ago and has won Vancouver Island Music Awards and a People’s Choice award for his music video, “Home,” at the Victoria Film Festival.
Heather and Jonny have created a new album of magic together on their new labor-of-love,Beautiful Thing: their way of announcing that even in these troubled times, there is hope, courage, and gratitude, that life in these times is in indeed “a beautiful thing.”
Press Quotes from Their Last Album
“Mixing folk delicacy with country moves and Americana vibes, not to mention poetic lyricism and gorgeously intertwined harmonies, the debut album from Canadian West Coasters, Peach & Quiet is a class act. Every lyric, every note, every beat is exactly where it needs to be and exactly what is required…there are plenty of artists, even within the roots music world, who could learn a thing or two from Peach & Quiet.” – Dave Franklin, Dancing About Architecture
“Just Beyond the Shine puts a marker down that 2021 could be one those years that hits new heights. Outside the realms of hyperbole, Peach & Quiet has made a record that is easy to admire and ripe for enjoyment. Fundamentals maybe, but when in place the potential for a record to grow is boundless.”
— Three Chords and the Truth
“There’s always something original, individual and superb about Canadian roots music. So much of it comes from over there. On this evidence, Peach And Quiet belong in the top draw. Everything on Just Beyond The Shine is tasty, juicy and definitely needs shouting about.” – Andy Thorley, Maximum Volume Music
“This Canadian duo’s auspicious debut is the kind of record that wraps itself warmly inside your ears—albeit with moments of sheer honesty that will give you the chills. A sound that’s at once retro and totally contemporary with plenty of hooks and a flair for songwriting, the music and vocals remind me of the glory days of Laurel Canyon. Rooted in folk-rock, these nine fresh selections expand the template with touches of soft rock, indie rock, and intermittently nodding toward country-rock. Regardless of the sound path chosen from song to song, it is always like an oasis of peaceful ease and good vibes amid the uncomfortable, mad scenes found in the outside world we currently live in. Restrained and delicate, nursing you back to equilibrium with its sumptuous balm of laid back-growers, Just Beyond the Shine is a near perfect hangover record.” – Alan Cackett
“Together Miller and Read sound like more or less no one else other than themselves; it’s beautifully crafted and quite distinctive; and that guitar picking will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. The whole album has been both a delight and a basket of surprises from start to finish.” – The Rocking Magpie
