Who are The Civil Wars?

The Civil Wars are a Folk/ Country/ Americana duo composed of California’s Joy Williams and Alabama’s John Paul White.  After last week’s GRAMMY Awards, you may be more familiar with the name. The duo walked away with both Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. When The Civil Wars won the latter award they beat out the likes of Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson, Thompson Square, and Kenny Chesney & Grace Potter. Pretty impressive for an independent act.

The duo’s song ‘Poison and Wine’ was featured on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy last fall, grabbing the attention of millions of viewers. The song soon became a viral success, even getting the stamp of approval from Taylor Swift. She tweeted, calling it her “favorite duet on her playlist.” The official video on YouTube has now gained over 3 million views.

Their journey as The Civil Wars began back in 2008, when a songwriting camp brought them into the same room with 20 other writers. “When John Paul opened his mouth and started singing”, Joy says, ” I knew where he was heading musically and could follow him, without ever having met him before. That had never happened to me.”

John Paul agrees, saying, “It was a weird familiarity like we’d been in a family band or something most of our lives.”

Since the success of ‘Poison and Wine’, their album Barton Hollow was released in late 2011 and they got the chance to perform to a sold-out crowd at Nashville’s prestigious Ryman Auditorium in December.

John Paul White also has a Canadian connection, he co-wrote one of Doc Walker‘s biggest hits ‘Trying to Get Back to You.’

Heading into 2012, they recorded a song for the new film about to hit theatres, The Hunger Games, along with Taylor Swift called ‘Safe & Sound.’ They will also head over to Europe and the UK for numerous tour dates.

For more information on the Civil Wars, check out the band’s website.