Fans of The Civil Wars who were planning to attend one of the bands upcoming concerts will be disappointed to learn that the Grammy Award winning duo have cancelled all of their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences. That's the bad news, as is the implication that there's trouble with the act, but their message to fans offers a note of hope that more music will be made at some point.
The Civil Wars are a musical country duo that consists of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Their 2011 album Barton Hollow (and the song by the same name) won them Grammy awards for Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. They received some mainstream attention when their song "Poison and Wine" was featured in an episode of The Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy, and they teamed up with Taylor Swift for "Safe & Sound," a song featured on The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond. At this point, it seems like we've only just begun to see what this duo can bring to modern music on a country, folk and marginally pop level, but there appears to be unspecified complications for the band.
Here's the message they posted on their Facebook page, which could mean (but does not outright specify) a separation for the duo (they're not together romantically, lest there be any confusion there).
We sincerely apologize for the canceling of all of our tour dates. It is something we deeply regret. However, due to internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition we are unable to continue as a touring entity at this time. We thank each and every one of you for your amazing love & support. Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.- Joy Williams & John Paul White.PS - We understand that there are many of you stuck with service charges and travel reservations due to our abrupt cancelations. Please email us at info@thecivilwars.com if there are costs incurred that you would like to be reimbursed for, include a scan or attachment to your receipt(s) of the costs, and we will do our best to reimburse you for non-refundable charges.
Fans are sure to be disappointed by this news, especially those who were planning to attend one of the shows. The offer to attempt to compensate people who incurred expenses due to travel or service charges in anticipation of attending one of their shows is certainly generous. But I suspect many fans are concerned that this might be a break-up for the group. Whether or not that's the case remains to be seen. With so few details mentioned on the nature of the problem, it's too soon to know for sure what this means for the band's future. But their comment about their "sincere hope" in having new music done in 2013 suggests that they believe things can be worked out - or they hope they will. And as a fan of the group and their Barton Hollow album, I hope so too!
Here's the video for their song "Poison and Wine."
