The lineage of seductive indie-folk duo the Civil Wars is seemingly torn from a country-music storybook.
The band’s idyllic once-upon-a- time came via a Nashville song camp, where 20-plus songwriters were randomly paired with a partner and offered a private rehearsal space.
When John Paul White and Joy Williams started singing together that night, they realized something special was happening. And then they wrote songs together and realized that, “Yeah, this could work.”
A little while later, their music was on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Taylor Swift was tweeting about them, and they were opening for Adele.
But ultimately, it all comes down to that first meeting, those first harmonies.
“As soon as we started singing together, it was like we’d been doing it in a past life,” remembers White.
Adds bandmate Williams, “John Paul and I didn’t say anything to each other at the time. But I remember going home and talking with my husband and saying, ‘Wow!’ “
Listening to songs like “Barton Hollow” or “Poison & Wine” is all the proof you’ll need. White’s and Williams’ voices belong together — not unlike Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris or Stephen Stills and David Crosby.
A more modern reference is the Swell Season’s Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who are the most obvious reference point to the Civl Wars’ romantic, instantly likable choruses.
It’s a strong partnership, and the Civil Wars — who will tape an eTown episode tonight with Sarah Jarosz at the Boulder Theater — carry it out fully. They do interviews together and they write songs together. They’ll return to Colorado for a full set of music at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons on Aug. 21.
“Everything’s 50-50 with us,” said White. “Sometimes you go into co-writes and it’s not 50-50. But it feels like every time I’m in a room with her, it’s equal footing and parts from each of us.”
The band rushed a four-song EP, “Poison & Wine,” after the song appeared on ABC. But the “Barton Hollow” full-length, released in February, is a fully realized portrait of what the duo is doing now. The compositions are sparse but the melodies pack a potent, memorable punch. The lyrics are Southern in flavor, but the harmonies are what’s so addictive about the songs.
“Being in the studio recording our record, it was almost as though John Paul and I didn’t have to talk about what we wanted on the record,” said Williams. “If something was off-kilter or we were adding instruments, we lined up on the same side of the fence. . . . We were walking blindly to create and had no idea of what kind of environment recording would foster.”
Both White and Williams were professional musicians for about seven years before meeting each other. White was making a living writing songs for other musicians, and Williams was a Dove Award-nominated Christian pop artist with numerous albums under her belt and her own independent label, Sensibility Music.
Williams founded Sensibility Music with her husband, Nate, in 2008. And now it’s the home to the Civil Wars’ catalog, which includes “Live at Eddie’s Attic,” a 10-song live EP recorded at the group’s second show. It’s been available on the band’s website, , free of charge, for more than two years.
“We thought, ‘Hell, lets get it out there and start the conversation,’ ” said White. “And now it’s been downloaded more than 200,000 times.”
They’ve certainly had a little help. Taylor Swift’s millions of Twitter followers might have learned about the Civil Wars through the pop-country diva’s feed. Adele wrote they are “by far the best live band I have ever seen.” The booking agents at “The Tonight Show” brought them on twice in five months earlier this year, and the second time they were playing for Jay Leno and his audience.
Aerosmith frontman/”American Idol” judge Steven Tyler became a fan, tweeting about them from the backstage area.
“Its unbelievably flattering when artists of note take notice with what we do,” said Williams. “A lot of our fans found us by word of mouth.”
The Civil Wars
eTown radio taping. Boulder Theater, featuring a few live songs and interviews with the Civil Wars and bluegrass hero Sarah Jarosz. 6 p.m. today. sold out.
