Kacy & Clayton

A Canadian duo whose music recalls the glory days of British folk-rock, Kacy & Clayton feature the talents of vocalist Kacy Anderson and guitarist and vocalist Clayton Linthicum. While their music has a recognizable country influence, their strong harmonies, evocative but sweetly sad melodies, and Linthicum's guitar work recall the U.K. folk sound of Fairport Convention and Richard & Linda Thompson, although the homespun tone of their lyrics owes more to the work of Canadian folk icons Ian & Sylvia. The moody but powerful sound of Kacy & Clayton's updated take on vintage folk was memorably captured on 2015's Strange Country, while 2019's Carrying On founding them turning up the country accents in their sound.
Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum are cousins who have been friends since childhood. They grew up a few miles from one another in Wood Mountain Uplands, a rural community in Saskatchewan, where their family started a ranch in 1911. When Linthicum was ten years old, his parents went on a trip and left him in the care of his uncle Carl. Carl taught young Clayton how to play guitar, and he's stayed with the instrument ever since. It was in 2009 that Linthicum and Anderson discovered they had a mutual interest in vintage folk music. Kacy & Clayton began learning songs and performing together at a tavern in their hometown. Word spread about the duo, and within a year they were appearing at folk clubs and at music festivals. For a while, Linthicum was also playing in a bar band that specialized in country covers. At a gig in 2011, Linthicum met fellow musician Ryan Boldt, who shared his passion for classic folk and blues music. Boldt was a member of the popular Canadian roots rock band the Deep Dark Woods, and he not only invited Linthicum to join the group, but talked up the Kacy & Clayton project in the press.
In 2013, Kacy & Clayton released their first album, The Day Is Past and Gone. The disc earned rave reviews, with some reviewers citing Anderson as the natural heir to iconic folksinger Sandy Denny. In 2015, the duo toured England, where they took the opportunity to spend a day perusing the archives of esteemed folk music historian Cecil Sharp. In 2016, Kacy & Clayton released their eagerly awaited second album, Strange Country, produced by musician and songwriter Shuyler Jansen. Like their debut, Strange Country was a major critical success, and spread their name in the United States. August 2017 saw the release of the third Kacy & Clayton album, The Siren's Song, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. After the album arrived, the duo toured extensively, including a string of North American dates with the Decemberists. The pair returned to Wilco's Chicago studio the Loft to cut their fourth full-length project, with Tweedy once again at the helm. Displaying a stronger country accent than their previous efforts, Carrying On was brought out by New West in October 2019. ~ Mark Deming