Artists blend voices for American roots duo Denim Gold
Michelle Rivers and Hannah King have been harmonizing for years but have decided to take their act to the next level by recording their first album.
King is a Montana-born and raised national fiddle champion who writes heartfelt songs with soaring melodies. Rivers is a recording artist from Nashville who has spent decades honing her songcraft.
The two joined forces in 2019 after they met at Flathead’s Got Talent competition. They started writing together the next year. It would be a couple more years before they began writing intentionally as a duo and pondering a good band name landing on Denim Gold, and now they're looking to that first album this winter.
"We had some like concepts already brewing, but we really like denim, just kind of the western lifestyle and the hard-working aspect that denim represents ... and then gold. I liked gold because I always wear gold jewelry,” King said.
That Americana flare is found throughout their music. The two have released the EP “The Mountain Tapes,” with three songs on streaming platforms. One song titled “Under The Big Sky Night” is a love letter to Montana, and perfect for their performance this past summer at the Whitefish Under the Big Sky music festival.
“Cowboy let’s get lost, so we don’t get found,” King sings sweetly before Rivers kicks back in with the chorus about a perfect Montana night, including dancing under a sky full of stars with a glass of huckleberry wine.
Performing at Under the Big Sky was special, but it was not the first time the duo had shared a big stage. They’ve previously opened for Ashley McBride and the Hog Slop String Band.
But the festival was the musician’s sign to invest more time into their duo act, spending all last winter writing songs for a new album, King said.
“We got to play almost all of them at the festival with our live band. And that was really special and also really cool, because we hadn't recorded it yet, but we were able to work up the songs live, which I feel like is kind of rare,” King said.
Playing the songs live helped them come up with new ideas for production and now preparing to head into the studio soon, it’s made them confident in what they plan to put on the album.
Coming off of a busy summer, the two jumped into an even busier fall. With King getting married and Rivers returning to her job as a music teacher, they are looking forward to going into the studio to meditate and record their first full-length album together.
“We’re gigging all summer, I have a toddler and life is just busy ... but I would say winter — it's such a sweet time to just kind of hone in and be creative and write and record,” Rivers said.
Writing sessions last winter took place every Saturday, so a lot of the lyrical content is inspired by what was going on in their lives during the week. While writing, King said they had more of a vision for the dynamics of the album versus an overall theme.
"We had a general idea for the flow of the album. You know, we wanted a few mellow songs. We wanted some mid-tempo. We wanted something that stood out from the mid-tempo songs, and our ‘Good Jeans’ song really does that,” King said.
Both songwriters of their own accord, the two discovered their musical relationship together over time. There wasn’t one magical moment when they realized they had something special, Rivers said, but rather many different times they just showed up to play and had a lot of fun.
“It felt awesome just to have those moments where you look at each other and you're like, ‘we just nailed that.’ I don't know that probably sounds very egotistical, but I feel like it's just more fun to play with someone else, because music is meant to be played with other people,” Rivers said.
The musicians have complimentary vocal registers with King’s voice more airy and higher pitched, while Rivers carries a beautiful lower tone. Both have written songs since childhood before they were passionate about singing.
"Michelle is an amazing harmony singer. So, it’s fun always for me to get to sing with her when she’s doing harmony, and she’s taught me a lot about how to do it,” King said.
Rivers said it’s always been a joy to play with King, who she said has “an amazing ear for music.” But there’s something extra special about watching each other become even more confident.
Denim Gold performs for Press Play on Dec. 6, a lunchtime concert series hosted by the Daily Inter Lake. Subscribers can join for a unique music listening experience at the Daily Inter Lake by donating to the Newspapers in Education initiative.
Concertgoers can bring lunch or purchase lunch in advance from The House of S&M.
Tickets are available at FlatheadTickets.com or by calling 406-758-4436. The performance will be live streamed on the Daily Inter Lake Facebook and Instagram pages.
More information about Denim Gold can be found on River's website at michelleriversmusic.com/denimgold and on social media @DenimGoldOfficial.
Watch and listen to Press Play concerts on the Daily Inter Lake’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@daily_inter_lake or through a podcast app.
Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.
Americana duo Denim Gold performs for Press Play on Dec. 6, a lunchtime concert series hosted by the Daily Inter Lake. (photo courtesy of Leah Lamberson Photography.)