Country standards, bluegrass, traditional folk songs and inspired interpretations of familiar favourites. They all feature on Westways, the debut album from Indiana-raised, New York-based husband & wife duo Tattercoats
Release Date: 1st November 2025
Label: Self Release
Formats: Digital
HUSBAND & WIFE DUOS…
There’s often something uniquely compelling about husband and wife duos – and we need look no further than ATB faves Plumhall for proof of that particular statement. And an album’s worth of further proof of its accuracy has just come our way, in the form of Westways, the debut album from Indiana-raised, New York-based Tattercoats.
Tattercoats are: Ned Joyner (guitar and vocals) and Charlotte Wager Miller (bass and vocals – although we have a suspicion that she’ll also turn her hand to autoharp whenever the situation merits…). As we’ve suggested, they’re a husband and wife duo, and they specialize in imaginative, sympathetic interpretations of songs you’ll probably know, whilst showcasing their breathtaking tight vocal harmonies and Ned’s startling prowess on the guitar fretboard.
A WARM, COMFORTING BOWL OF SOUP
Tattercoats’ sound has been likened to “…a warm, comforting bowl of soup” and their stock-in-trade combines traditional songs and tunes, country standards and folk revival classics, with familiar songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s. They take their inspiration from artists such as Tim Grimm, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Willie Watson and John Hartford, before adding their own special twist to everything they do. The result is enchanting.
It’s a formula that has been applied to wonderful effect for Westways. Songs by Dylan, Tom Waits, Guy Clark and Charles Moody sit alongside a smattering of well-known traditional numbers, and there’s even a Bee Gees song to round things off. As it turns out, it’s an inspired choice of material that plays precisely to the duo’s strengths and Tattercoats’ interpretation and delivery of the songs is consistently excellent.
FROM INDIANA, TO NEW YORK, TO IRELAND, AND BACK
Westways takes its name from the Long Island villa where Ned and Charlotte demoed the album’s material and, as the duo are keen to point out: “These are songs that we’ve lived with. Tried and true songs made for everyday wear and tear. We’ve sung on porches and around kitchen tables. They gave us comfort and joy when we were finding our feet as Midwesterners in a big city during a pandemic. We carried them with us from Indiana to New York, to Ireland and back again.”
On Westways, Tattercoats set out their modus operandi right from the start. Ned’s voice assumes the pleading, reassuring tones of Gram Parsons for opening track, Guy Clark’s Anyhow I Love You. We get early notice of the duo’s awesome harmonies and Charlotte’s bass adds just the right amount of depth.
A POTENCY THAT’S ELECTRIFYING
One of the two singles that provided early notice of Westways, Tattercoats’ version of the trad standard, Cumberland Gap, is an early album highlight. Ned’s guitar picking reminds me Richard Thompson and gives a Scottish flavour to the song. The vocals are warm and relaxed, with more of those delicious signature harmonies.
The version of Tom Waits’ Hang Down Your Head is adept and enjoyable and things get even better for Tattercoats’ stunning treatment of Girl From the North Country. It’s probably the album’s most familiar song and the precise vocals, the pristine harmonies and Ned’s fluent guitar combine with a potency that’s electrifying.
AN ENTICING TAKE ON AN OLD FAVOURITE
Dylan was still specializing in anti-war songs when he came up with Let Me Die in My Footsteps. It is, perhaps, one his lesser-known early songs, revitalized here by Tattercoats’ commendable interpretation. Ned’s voice rings with sincerity, whilst Charlotte’s harmonies add a wholly palatable layer of sweetness.
The second of the album’s four trad offerings, Make Me Down a Pallet is another well-known, well loved choice, as followers of Doc Watson and Lucinda Williams (amongst many others) will testify. Tattercoats deliver another enticing take on an old favourite, with Charlotte’s bass featuring prominently behind Ned’s bluesy ragtime guitar.
NIFTY GUITAR FILLS
Drifting Too Far From the Shore, a song from Georgian gospel songwriter Charles Moody was, perhaps, a shoo-in for a dose of Tattercoats treatment. It’s a song that invites close harmony singing and I love the way that Ned embellishes the country-waltz tune with his nifty guitar fills for the song’s “…come to Jesus today…” refrain.
Fans of Fairport Convention will instantly recognize the tune to the traditional Shady Grove – it’s the tune that Fairport ‘borrowed’ back in 1969 for their Matty Groves epic. Shady Grove has been covered by just about everyone you can imagine and Tattercoats’ version of the song is up there amongst the best with, once again, the twin barrels of fine guitar and beautiful harmonies both firing at full bore.
BLUEGRASS & BEE GEES
Westways provides many opportunities for Ned to stretch out on his guitar but it’s maybe on Nine Pound Hammer, another take on a traditional song, where he’s at his most astonishing. The song kicks off as a lazy, bluesy number, before Ned bursts forth with a frantic, breathless bluegrass theme.
The problem that Tattercoats were left with, then, was how to follow such a dose of fast, fluent picking. And the solution to that quandary? With a Bee Gees song, of course! The origins of Too Much Heaven are plainly detectable in Tattercoats’ delivery, but that’s not to say that they don’t put their own stamp on the song. It’s not a easy song to tackle, but Tattercoats manage to pull it off and it’s an inspired coda to a thoroughly enjoyable album.
Listen to Tattercoats’ version of Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country – a track from the album – below:
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