Artist: The Nine Seas
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “I Never Will Marry”
Album: Dream of Me
Release Date: April 3, 2020
In Their Words: “I learned this song from a Joe Val & the New England Boys album. Joe’s version is faster and surprisingly upbeat, which is how I was originally playing it. When I played the song for Fiona on guitar, she soon worked it into our slower, more mournful version, which seems to be much more in line with the heartbreaking lyrics.” — Liz Tormes
“When Liz played me this song I thought it was so beautiful, so evocative and sad. I slightly reharmonized the chords to make them more ambiguous and I put it in 6/8 tempo so it sounded more of a lullaby/lament. I’d never heard the Joe Val version, but once Liz sang the song to me, with its tragic, desperate lyrics, I knew I could never hear a man sing this song again.” — Fiona McBain
Photo credit: Dave Doobinin