First, some housekeeping. Jodi and Derrick Mears performed (along with their daughter Jade) as Route 358. Jade left a couple years ago, and the couple continued on as March to August (their birth months). They began recording the songs on this set as a duo, but then added violinist Aviva Tu to complete the tracks.

March to August Songs Inspired by Witness (self-released)

The music and singing are reminiscent of a folky bluegrass, but as most of the instrumentation is Derrick's banjo and Jodi's bass, this qualifies more as folk. The feel is stark and unsparing, befitting songs written to illustrate characters from Karen Hesse's novel Witness.

Uplifting? No. But the space created between the bass, banjo and vocals (either Jodi or Derrick, but generally not both) adds to the dark and spooky subject matter. The effect is to wrap these songs up in an appropriately fraught atmosphere.

After a few seconds, the setting is clear and then the story unfolds. These songs are not laid out like a novel, but rather roll along bringing one character to life after another. In that way, it takes flight on its own artistic merit. Lovely and frightening, with all the feels in between.

Jon Worley