Featuring songs of place inspired by the Wallowa Mountains, Heidi Muller and Bob Webb will perform songs from their new CD, “Up Hurricane Creek,” at an album release concert Saturday in Moscow.
The new album, which just became available this week, is named for the canyon at the foot of the Wallowas, where Muller and Webb have lived since moving to Joseph in 2012. The place references in the songs will be most familiar to locals, Muller said, but given the regional popularity of the mountains and lake, there’ll be plenty for those outside the area to appreciate.
Muller described the album as “contemporary folk” -- an acoustic, singer-songwriter sound that features guitar, dulcimer, ukulele, mandolin and cello and more. This is Muller and Webb’s fourth CD together, Muller’s 10th album and the first one in several years that features Muller’s original songwriting. Although the duo often plays traditional Appalachian instrumentals, this album only features one such piece.
Several songs from the album were featured over the weekend on Dan Maher’s “Inland Folk” on Northwest Public Radio. Muller’s song, “Good Road,” has been the show’s theme song for “a million years,” she said -- later noting that the song was included on her 1989 album, “Matters of the Heart.”
Muller is widely recognized for her playing and teaching ability on the dulcimer, which she was drawn to 30 years ago for its “sweet and delicate sound.” Though most associated with the Appalachian region, the stringed instrument surfaces occasionally in pop music -- Muller cited Cindy Lauper’s “Time After Time” -- and is played by a handful of musicians throughout the region.
Muller and Webb’s CD will be available for purchase at the concert for $15; they’re also available online at www.heidimuller.com, where free shipping is being offered for a limited time.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: “Up Hurricane Creek” album release concert by Heidi Muller and Bob Webb
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, 420 E. 2nd St., Moscow
COST: $10/person
