Eight months after The Civil Wars split in the middle of a European tour, Joy Williams opens up about what happened with the duo, the new upcoming album and what's in the band's future.
The group, which consists of John Paul White and Joy Williams, is on hiatus even though their sophomore album The Civil Wars is due for release on August 6. Williams expressed extreme pride in the new material, stating in New York Times "I'm just really proud of what we created together. And we created it together — we just happened to be in a bit of a civil war ourselves."
When the folk duo canceled the rest of their European Tour last November, they cited "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition." according to Rolling Stone. Williams says that although she and White have not spoken since, she holds out hope that they will soon be able to reconcile to perform their new music live. This hiatus was meant to be a step back; they would go home to their respective families and then decide what's next, but she can't decide that until they open up communications again.
"This album chronicles loss and regret and anger and victory and sweetness and loyalty." Williams says int eh interview. The tension that broke up the band had been building up for some time, but some of the hardest parts says Williams to New York Times, besides not being on speaking terms with White, was reading the false rumours created online regarding what happened to cause the split. "This is my life, and my life is on this album. And if you want to know what happened to the band, listen to the album."
John Paul White and Joy Williams met in 2008 after randomly being paired together for a songwriting session in Nashville, Tennesee. When they realized how much musical chemistry they shared, they formed The Civil Wars and have been creating music together since. Before the ambiguous hiatus, The Civil Wars were on a European Tour, they won two Grammys: one for their collaboration with Taylor Swift on 'Safe & Sound' for The Hunger Games soundtrack and the other for their original debut album Barton Hollow. They also toured with Adele in 2011 after she said, "they are the best live band I've ever seen" , The Guardian
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