Stumbling Onto Storyhill

Storyhill
Storyhill
(Red House Records)

I just can't keep up with everything. It's not for a lack of effort: I've more or less run out of storage space for CDs and vinyl, but I still make ample purchases at plenty of record stores; samplers, XM and loans from friends add to a wish list that never shrinks; I read music books in my spare time, music magazines on the train ride to work and music Web sites at the office (but only on my lunch hour, of course). Despite this devotion/obsession/sickness, the duo Storyhill had until recently eluded me. I'm glad we crossed paths, because their sweet harmonies are helping to fill the hole in my heart the Jayhawks left when they faded into dissolution a few years ago.

I might have gone without hearing this group for quite some time if their new (13th!) disc, "Storyhill," hadn't been displayed on a listening station at my local Borders. I first was drawn to the cover photograph, a tightly-cropped head shot of bandmates Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson wearing headphones. The blurb on the display said something about them sounding like Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers. In my subsequent search for more information about Storyhill, I've read similar descriptions. But when I put on Borders' headset and started the opening track, "Give up the Ghost," I was treated to a sound that was, well, music to my ears. Specifically, it evoked the gorgeous harmonies of the Jayhawks' Marc Olson/Gary Louris era, when they turned out the classic albums "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass."

While they sound like the Jayhawks, Storyhill is no copycat band. Cunningham and Hermanson's 11 originals feature tight harmonies, strong melodies and a folk/country feel that would be good whether or not they sang in a similar range to Olson and Louris. That's just a pleasant bonus to these ears.

According to their Web site, Cunningham and Hermanson grew up and joined forces in Bozeman, Mont., and recorded their first tape together in 1989. They parted ways to attend college and reformed in Minneapolis in the mid-'90s (which at least partly explains the Jayhawks influence). After a few years of touring and self-releasing albums, they pursued separate endeavors before a handful of reunion shows in 2001 convinced them again to work together full-time.

Produced by Semisonic's Dan Wilson, who recently became a semi-household name through his songwriting with the Dixie Chicks on their multiple-Grammy-winning "Taking the Long Way," "Storyhill" sounds clean, uncluttered and polished. The light-handed production is perfect for this pair, and brings out the sweetness of the harmonies and acoustic-guitar accompaniment with occasional light drumming and bass, harmonica, piano, cello and electric guitar accents. More releases like this one could give "adult contemporary" a much better name.

The sweet ballad "Give up the Ghost" was plenty to get me hooked. The songcraft reaches a high point on the second track, "Paradise Lost," an elegy for a childhood haunt torn asunder by overdevelopment. That theme is universal enough to grab listeners, and the chorus might well make you think about memories long since bulldozed: "When we were young we used to walk out in those fields / And run forever in the backyard woods / Now the old trails disappear in neighborhoods / And streets named after what's gone for good." Cunningham and Hermanson's vocal delivery reaches a powerful crescendo at the bridge, as the sense of permanent loss comes pouring out: "Now there's no trespassing / There's no going back again / Only hope you remember / The way it was, what we had back then � ."

"Storyhill" is full of pleasant, well-crafted songs ranging from sunny ("Highlight," "Sacramento") to bittersweet (ski-bum character sketch "Ballad of Joe Snowboard") with a variety of emotional stops along the way. The disc closes with a simple but solid ballad, "Room in My Heart," which promises, "You have my word whatever I can do / There will always be room in my heart for you." I've been infatuated before, and had my heart broken, too, but I could see me feeling the same way about this band.

Storyhill is a perfect example of why the afflicted among us push the limits of our shelf space, our spouses and sometimes our sanity searching for great music. If an accomplished group with a sound this polished could slip under my radar, who knows what else I'm missing. To tell you the truth, the enjoyment I'm getting out of "Storyhill" is likely to keep me from worrying about it for quite some time.