Barton Hollow — The Civil Wars

I was taking sonic Polaroids of great performances. That was the ethos.

Sep 05, 2025

To celebrate this new deluxe vinyl version of Barton Hollow by Dualtone Records, I was interviewed by writer Emily Frances Algar for Atwood Magazine. What follows is an excerpt of her wonderful retrospective which you can read/listen/watch in full here. Thank you Emily, Atwood, and Dualtone Records!

Atwood Magazine: First off, I would like to say a big thank you to you for agreeing to speak to Atwood about this momentous occasion. The deluxe version of Barton Hollow is about to be released on vinyl for the very first time. How do you feel about the release of such an iconic record?

Charlie Peacock: Well first, I’m honored to have produced it and to have had the privilege to work with Joy and John Paul – definitely star-bright highlight of a long career. And vinyl, God bless it, just won’t go away. So this is another opportunity for vinyl connoisseurs to learn about The Civil Wars for the first time. And what a great sonic way to discover them.

What memories do you have of recording/producing Barton Hollow?

Charlie Peacock: We recorded the Poison & Wine EP first in 2009 and the title cut is what captured Taylor Swift’s attention and she helped blow it up—(along with our friend Allan Heinberg placing it on) Grey’s Anatomy playing the entire song in an evocative scene (and this is the version on Barton Hollow). So, we started the full-length Barton Hollow with a lot of proverbial wind in the sails—a ton of confidence that we were on to something unique. We kept following that path.

Production-wise, I kept saying I was taking sonic Polaroids of great performances. That was the ethos. And we got it right. Or so the public told us through heaps of affirmation and ringing the cash register. Barton Hollow was an indie Gold Record recording. Which was unheard of then – and especially for Folk/Americiana music. The whole world came calling.

The first chapter of my memoir tells my side of The Civil Wars story. Click for deep discount options on hardcover and Kindle. Audio at regular price.

What is your relationship to the record and the songs today? Have your feelings about it changed?

Charlie Peacock: Even though I was as “inside baseball” as a human could be with every note of it, Barton Hollow still surprises me. I’ll go several years without hearing it and then listen and be blown away – a fan’s reaction to the artistry of those two. So special.

I’ve produced well over a hundred albums, and many of them are very good, but only a few will stand the test of time like Barton Hollow will. Even though it was at the epicenter of the 2000s Folk/Americana boom, it is a record for all times. So I guess I feel increasingly grateful to have helped create a record in the folk trajectory of Peter, Paul, & Mary, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Taj Mahal, Doc Watson, Pete Seeger, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings and so many more.

What bonus track from the record are you excited for fans to hear?

Charlie Peacock: Three of the bonus tracks are from the aforementioned Poison & Wine EP, so I think I would go with the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” This is a perfect example of how powerful the essence of the duo was. They could reinvent and transform any song into their iconoclastic style. That’s a serious gift. Plus it’s a great song!

And finally, is there a song from the album that is still dear to you?

Charlie Peacock: Yes. “Poison & Wine.” A perfect song and performance. I’m just lucky I was there to see it happen live in my living room. Joy’s playing my piano—one I play everyday. Poison & Wine is living in it somewhere.

Accepting Grammy Award for Barton Hollow, Folk Album of the Year 2012

NEWS UPDATES

Coming up soon, October 18th and 19th, 2025. Vanderbilt University Presents: The Southern Festival of Books, a program of Humanities Tennessee. This Celebration of the Written Word is among the oldest literary festivals in the country, annually welcoming hundreds of authors and thousands of visitors to downtown Nashville each October. The Festival is free and includes performance stages, food trucks, and loads of publishers and booksellers. To locate where and when I’ll be interviewed for ROOTS & RHYTHM: A LIFE IN MUSIC stay up to date at the website. They are still making decisions on times and locations.

A quick word to those of you who have read the book and enjoyed it. I would love your help with reviews on Amazon and Good Reads (owned by Amazon) as these contribute to the placement of the book in their system. Thanks!

I’m very pleased to tease this upcoming release dropping on Friday, October 17th. These tapes were never supposed to see daylight, and that’s half the fun. The Kahne Sessions 1980–81 is a lark — six unreleased tracks from 45 years ago, caught at the apex of San Francisco’s new wave moment.

Together, with my producer David Kahne, we captured a slice of the era’s distinctive creativity — just a few years before David was producing Romeo Void’s 1984 radio hit “A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)” and The Bangles’ 1986 chart-topper “Walk Like an Egyptian,” or I was debuting my first full-length on A&M (Lie Down in the Grass) in 1984, managed by the legendary Bill Graham, and touring as opener for ‘80s hitmakers The Fixx and General Public. More on this come as we get closer and I’ll tease a few tracks too.

Peace to all.