Mountain Man performs the English folk song "Greensleeves," as part of its Mountain Man Sings series of cover singles. "'Greensleeves' is one of our favorite winter songs," says the trio. "It occupies a strange melodic balance point between crystalline winter whimsy and the kind of grim determination required to embark into the emotional wilds of the holiday season."
Mountain Man—the trio of Amelia Meath, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Molly Sarlé—has released Mountain Man Sings Greensleeves, its performance of the traditional English folk song. The song is the latest release in Mountain Man’s series of cover singles, which also includes the band’s versions of Neil Young's "Through My Sails," the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn,” Wilco’s “You and I,” John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and the Irving Berlin holiday classic “White Christmas.” In August 2020, Nonesuch released Mountain Man’s live album, Look at Me Don't Look at Me, recorded in November 2018 at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle.
“‘Greensleeves’ is one of our favorite winter songs,” says the trio. “It occupies a strange melodic balance point between crystalline winter whimsy and the kind of grim determination required to embark into the emotional wilds of the holiday season.”
Mountain Man’s Nonesuch debut album, Magic Ship, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Following their beloved 2010 debut, Made the Harbor, the three musicians went in different directions for several years before they all ended up in North Carolina, spending time together as old friends, and finally reuniting as a band, and recording Magic Ship at Meath’s home studio in Durham. The group toured the US afterward, including a stop in Washington, DC, and a visit to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
In addition to Meath’s Grammy-nominated work with Sylvan Esso, which released a new album last month, Sauser-Monnig and Sarlé have recorded their own critically acclaimed solo projects. Sauser-Monnig released Dawnbreaker, her debut album under the moniker Daughter of Swords, via Nonesuch last year. Pitchfork says the album “reveals her effortless skill as a songwriter as she delivers an homage to the betwixt and between of a relationship in its twilight.” Sarlé released Karaoke Angel last year via Partisan Records.
