Highland Reverie to release a “spacey” sophomore album

Courtesy of Highland Reverie

Hailing from Johnson City, Tennessee and alumni of Eastern Tennessee State University, Luke and Madison Morris released their first album together as Highland Reverie in January 2022, but before that they were two solo artists who would occasionally record and gig together. 

Since lawfully wedding and officially joining together as Highland Reverie, the musicians have continued to evolve together. 

The duo draws their influences from the musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains that they grew up in. 

“I currently go to East Tennessee State University and I studied vocal music and I'm a bluegrass minor. I've been playing music since I was six years old, so I've always been immersed in traditional music since I was little,” Madison said. 

Luke graduated from ETSU’s bluegrass, old time, and country music program. 

“I've been playing music since I was about 10 years old, and it was probably around the age of 12 that I got more into traditional music and bluegrass and old time music,” Luke said. 

Luke grew up in Galax, Virginia, home of the Galax Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention. 

The duo met as teenagers at a music festival in North Carolina. 

“We had some mutual friends, and both of our groups were playing at the same festival that day,” Madison said. 

To them, forming a group was the natural thing to do. 

“I mean, we met just because we're both into music. So we're like, you know, let’s jam together sometimes. So, we just started playing together just for fun, and it kind of snowballed into something that we thought, you know, would actually be really cool,” Luke said. “I felt like I wasn't quite able to really explore songwriting in the way that I wanted to, and just explore, I guess, more folk music as well, and just kind of that side of what I was getting into at the time. So it kind of made sense, and me and Madison both enjoyed a lot of the same bands, a lot of the same music.” 

Courtesy of Highland Reverie

The duo just finished recording their sophomore album. 

“We actually just got it back from the person who mastered it a couple days ago, so that should be coming out sometime later this year. We haven't set a release date, but we're super, super excited about it, because it's got a lot of ideas that we've been forming over the past year or so since our last album,” Madison said. “We're just kind of excited to see how our music has evolved and excited to share it with everybody.”

Unlike their debut album, this album was written in a short timeframe. 

“I would say the main difference, though, is that this album was written in a very short timeframe. We wrote all the songs within months of each other,” Luke said. “We would write a song and we'd be like, ‘oh, that kind gives me this idea that we can chase over here,’ and we’d chase that idea, and it was just kind of all the songs. I think because of that they all really fit together nicely.”

“We actually recorded it all within a couple days as well. So, the last album, it was kind of just recorded over several sessions, really almost over the span of two years,” Luke said. 

“I think when you're doing a first album, you're kind of just scrambling to put together your songs that you think represent you the most, and, at least for us, it wasn't the most cohesive idea,” Madison added. 

The sophomore album will be a lot more “spacey” than its predecessor. 

“I think it has a lot more texture to it, and I think that just comes with who we've been listening to, since we recorded that [debut] album, how we've evolved as musicians and people, and just what our tastes are like now, but yeah, it's very spacey,” Madison said. 

To keep up with Highland Reverie, click here. 

Courtesy of Highland Reverie