As record store clerks in Chapel Hill NC, Heather McEntire (of post- punk veterans Bellafea) and Jenks Miller (of heavy psych/metal outfit Horseback) spent their evenings creating Mount Moriah as an outlet for their mutual interest in classic American folk and rock music. Born in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, McEntire weaves narratives into spectral tapestries imbued with the complex majesty of the South and its deep-seeded spirituality. With nods to both classic folk-rock (Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Carole King, Emmylou Harris) and their contemporaries (Gillian Welch, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes) Mount Moriah challenges existing traditional folk music forms with arrangements born from Miller's interest in minimalism and sound texture. The 2010 EP, The Letting Go, highlighted the band's thematic range, moving from delicate acoustic narratives to a dark, fuzzed out, soulful stomper in just three tracks. Mount Moriah's long-awaited, self-titled debut -- featuring guest instrumentation by members of St. Vincent, Megafaun, Gayngs, Bowerbirds and many other North Carolina- based musicians -- is cut from the same cloth, offering a far reaching and non-traditional take on classic folk themes like devotion, tribulation, redemption, and an indelible sense of place.