Time Is Everything - Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno
They say they serendipity is a wonderful thing, especially when looking to discover great new music. A lovely recent example are our next LCM featured duo Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno. Vivian is a songwriter, singer, and guitarist from Lexington, Virginia and Riley is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Both are young interpreters of old mountain music. Vivian released her debut album in March and our LCM #SongOfTheDay is a lovely live version of the title track 'Time Is Everything'. The video was filmed at at Forest Hills Cemetary in Jamaica Plain, MA by Sean Trischka.
Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno are tapping into the deepest parts of American music, taking old songs that have seldom been heard and presenting them next to their own timeless and visceral originals. When they are not performing as duo, they’re often found sitting knee to knee, playing under the canopy of trees at fiddle festivals across the country, such as the gathering where they met in June of 2016. Across any campground, or concert venue, the echos of their vibrant and magnetic harmonies ring out.
Vivian Leva of Lexington, Virginia grew up playing and performing with her parents, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, learning traditional songs from their sources and honing her rhythmic guitar style. This past June, Vivian recorded her debut album 'Time is Everything' in close collaboration with Riley Calcagno during an inspired session at Studio 808A in the small town of Floyd, VA. She released this album of original music on March 2nd, 2018 on Free Dirt Records.
Riley, of Seattle, WA spent his earlier years playing with the widely recognized band The Onlies, described as “masterful” and “deliciously well-crafted” (Kithfolk) and developing his own distinct authenticity on the fiddle and banjo.
Together, Vivian and Riley have toured across the country, in living rooms and concert halls. As individuals, they have shared the stages with and played, both nationally and internationally, in the bands of Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, The Lost Tribe Of Country Music, and Bruce Molsky to name just a few. To this collaboration they bring both the steady hands of experience and a refined taste for American music, yet still a youthful abandon that can’t be forced. In 2018, they will be on tour internationally to support Vivian’s new release and bring their distinct brand of old-time and country to a festival, hall, bar, or fireplace gathering near you.