High Valley’s ‘Farmhouse Sessions’ EP Is Imperfectly Perfect

High Valley say they're comfortable recording songs in makeshift studios, but were surprised to learn that the rest of their team was comfortable releasing those songs. The duo's Farmhouse Sessions EP is organic, inspired and, yes, flawed.

Recorded at older brother Brad Rempel's Nashville-area farm, the songs sound like what you'd get around a campfire. At least one was cut outside, and another was captured inside a ramshackle utility building hardly made for music. See for yourself:

Talking to Taste of Country, Brad and Curtis Rempel share that the new EP was cut before their debut full-length Dear Life was released in 2016. Instead of a studio microphone, Brad wore a lapel mic. If "Make You Mine" sounds like it was recorded in an open-air environment, well, it was. This isn't the formula for many Nashville records, but it worked for them.

This sort of in-the-round performance was certainly something the sibling duo did growing up in northern Canada, but they're still called upon for acoustic shows as a major label recording act. "She's With Me" (currently Top 10 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart) feels a bit more produced than some of the others. It's a mix for an ACM nominated duo who truly know how to stay humble.

“If ‘She’s With Me’ goes to No. 1 I’m gonna get new wiper blades for my truck,” Curtis Rempel tells Taste of Country Nights. “My truck is very excited about that.”

It's tough to find the Rempels not cutting up with one another, but they do get serious talking about the surprise Vocal Duo of the Year nomination: “It was really a shocker and it’s a welcome to the club kinda thing," Brad Rempel says.

The 2018 ACM Awards air live on CBS on April 15. High Valley's Farmhouse Sessions EP is available at digital retailers now.

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