Barton Hollow is the first full-length studio album from the Civil Wars. Produced by Charlie Peacock, it was released on February 1, 2011. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Digital Albums chart, No. 10 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 on the Billboard Folk Albums chart, and No. 2 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart, selling 25,000 copies in its first week.Billboard. Retrieved May 11, 2012, by Billboard.biz , the album has sold 623,000 copies in the US.

Barton Hollow was preceded by the lead single and title track, which was performed live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 14, 2011.The Audio Perv. Retrieved May 11, 2012 A track on this album, "Poison and Wine" was previously released as a single from their EP Poison & Wine in 2009. On November 30, 2011, Barton Hollow was nominated for Grammys in the Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance categories, for the title song. The album ended up winning both awards. Numerous publications noted that the Civil Wars were snubbed a Best New Artist nomination by The Grammys. At the ceremony the Civil Wars performed a portion of "Barton Hollow".Roberts, Randall (November 30, 2011) Grammy Awards? Your Granny's Awards. Retrieved 2011-12-2, from LATimes.comMaerz, Melissa (December 1, 2011) Grammys: Who Got Snubbed? Retrieved 2011-12-2, from EW.comChristman, Ed (December 1, 2011) Retailers Predict Grammy Sales Bumps. Retrieved 2011-12-2, from Billboard.biz The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.

Critical reception

Barton Hollow was included on the 2011 Best Album lists of NPR Music,NPR Music: 50 Favorite Albums of 2011 (December 3, 2011) Retrieved 2011-12-5, from NPR.org Paste Magazine,Jackson, Josh (November 29, 2011) Paste Magazine: The 50 Best Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-5, from PasteMagazine.com American Songwriter,(2011, November 29) American Songwriter's 50 Top Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-5, from AmericanSongwriter.com Rough Trade,(2011, November 29) Albums of the Year Top 100. Retrieved 2011-12-5, from RoughTrade.com Amazon.com,Amazon (December 3, 2011) The Best Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-7, from Amazon.com Time,Time (December 7, 2011) Top 10 Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-7, from Time iTunes,iTunes Rewind 2011 (December 8, 2011) Retrieved 2011-12-10, from iTunes The Huffington Post,Chenfeld, Cliff (December 8, 2011) The Best Music of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-10, from The Huffington Post Associated Press,Moody, Nekessa Mumbi (December 20, 2011) Adele tops AP's list of Best Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-22, from SFGate.com The Tennessean,Tennessean Music Team (December 21, 2011) 2011's Biggest Albums: Music That Made a Mark. Retrieved 2011-12-22, from Tennessean.com AllMusic.comAMG Staff (December 14, 2011) AllMusic's Favorite Folk Albums of 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-25, from AllMusic.com and more.

Andrew Leahey of AllMusic said that Williams and White "trace each other's melodies with close harmonies that never fail to lose their romance". He gave Barton Hollow four of five stars and called it "Good stuff". Darren Lee of MusicOMH also gave four of five stars, saying "The album's songs of love, loss and longing are an immediate pleasure to listen to, displaying real restraint in a disc that is pleasingly sparse and unembellished."

In 2017 it was ranked No. 66 in Paste magazine's "The 100 Best Indie Folk Albums" list.

Track listing All songs were written by Joy Williams and John Paul White, except where noted. The two bonus tracks are available with electronic album's versions. but not on the CD. An extended version of Barton Hollow was released in Europe through Sony Music on March 1, 2012, which contained the 12 tracks included with the North American release, the 2 bonus tracks from the electronic version, plus 4 additional tracks.

Personnel Listed in AllMusic.

Joy Williams: lead vocals, background vocals, piano, Hohner organ, bells John Paul White: lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, resonator guitar, banjo, bass guitar Andy Leftwich: fiddle, mandolin David Davidson: violin John Catchings: cello Jerry McPherson: electric guitar J.T. Corenflos: electric guitar Dan Dugmore: pedal steel guitar Tim Lauer: keyboards, synthesizer, keyboard bass, organ, "tiny keyboard" Charlie Peacock: electric piano, trumpet, producer, additional engineering Barry Bales: double bass Ken Lewis: percussion Richie Biggs: engineer, mixer Richard Dodd: mastering

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly sales chart performance for Barton Hollow Chart (2011–2012) Peakposition

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Barton Hollow Chart (2011) Position US Billboard 200 153 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 29 Chart (2012) Position US Billboard 200 88 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 27

Singles +Sales chart performance for singles from Barton Hollow Year Single Peak positions US 2011 "Barton Hollow"A 101 Did not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

Certifications

References