Listening to the songs on Olivia Chaney's debut recording, The Longest River, took me on a journey from 17th-century Baroque music to the 1970s U.S. pop music scene. My first reaction was that I was listening to the beautiful voice of someone re-shaping old English folk tunes, but then I discovered that more than half of the songs are original compositions. Chaney is a classically trained musician, but she was also heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell, Edward Grieg and Prince.

The cover photo of the album is of a little girl leaning over the car seat, resting her head on her father's shoulder as he drives. It happens to be Olivia Chaney in the photo with her father, an artist and teacher, who is driving the car on a trip from England to Italy to visit the country where she was born. Her management was initially hesitant to use the photo on the cover of the album, but Chaney insisted that it was a valuable component to an album from a woman who makes her own rules.

Olivia Chaney stopped in the Radio Heartland studio, along with musical partner Jordan Hunt, to play and to chat about her new record.

Songs performed

"Holiday"
"There's Not A Swain"
"Blessed Instant"
"Cassiopeia"
All songs from Olivia Chaney's album, The Longest River, out now on Nonesuch Records.

Personnel

Olivia Chaney: piano, guitar, harmonium, vocals
Jordan Hunt: violin, vocals

Hosted and produced by Mike Pengra
Engineered by Cameron Wiley

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