The Red and Black

Issue date: 6/26/08 Section: Variety

Media Credit: COURTESY CHAD HESS Sisters Leah and Chloe Smith perform live fire dancing stunts in addition to a wide variety of instruments as the band Rising Appalachia. [Click to enlarge]

Rising Appalachia has something to say, and it is being heard all over the world. Travelers by nature and musicians by election, sisters Leah and Chloe Smith make music that, while they call it roots or experimental, is beautifully indefinable.

The duo contributes the extensive variety of its sound largely to its musical upbringing. While naturally immersed in the sounds of Appalachia, Leah and Chloe were equally influenced by the hip-hop and spoken word of the urban South. Poetic, soulful and harmonious, Rising Appalachia makes the kind of perfect pair only sisters can.

"We are constantly striving to defy cultural clichés through music and sound evolution," said Chloe, the younger of the two.

Most of the time, Rising Appalachia also makes an effort to pervade its lyrics with politically active messages.

"We're careful not to be too political and in-your-face," Chloe said. "Just the beauty of the sound itself is simple and moving ...we're hoping to find a balance between the two."

Leah and Chloe each play a combination of drums, banjo, fiddle, spoons, washboard, kalimba, jaw harp, vocals and spoken word - but if that's not enough talent for one stage, they are also adept fire dancers.

"We've stayed closely aligned our whole lives," Leah said of her relationship with Chloe.

Leah recalls a fateful night in Asheville, N.C., when she was awe-struck by fire dancers gracefully and expertly twirling flaming objects at a street festival.

"And that was that," she said.

Since then, the girls have been traveling the world learning the fire dancing techniques of other cultures.

"I have eaten fire," Chloe said. "It's not quite as tricky as it looks."

Although Rising Appalachia is sticking with its name for the time being, the girls plan to change it simply to R.I.S.E.

"The reason for the transition is to signify to our fans that there's been a shift in our music," Leah said. "As its grown as a project and as we've grown as artists, it's become more about political expression. It's almost taken roots as resistance music."

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