MOUNT MORIAH singer Heather McEntire has a voice like an ember, shielded from the cold, harsh breeze by the cupped hands of her band.
Bassist Casey Toll’s loose-limbed but broad-shouldered grooves ignite McEntire like a gentle breath. Jenks Miller’s guitar licks, true and honest, offer just enough whiskey swerve for a twangy spark. Mount Moriah is touring in support of its latest release, How to Dance, out now on Merge Records. “What I think of Mount Moriah is probably pretty different than what other people think,” McEntire says in a soft southern drawl. “And that’s fine with me.”
McEntire and Miller met working at a record store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, bonding over a shared love of punk and DIY music. “We realized we had similar musical tastes,” McEntire recalls. Soon Toll joined on bass, and the trio became a quartet with a “round robin” of drummers. “I think we all really respect and trust each other,” McEntire says. “The guys trust me to write the lyrics; it’s a nice balance, it’s harmonious. We’re all best friends too.”
McEntire calls herself a musical late-bloomer. “I didn’t really sing or find any musical bone in my body until I was about 18 and discovered punk music,” she explains. “I played punk music for about 10 years. I guess you can call it singing—a lot of screaming and yelling—after that the dust settled for me to be myself as a singer.”