Pharis and Jason Romero

'A Wanderer I'll Stay' (album stream)

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 24, 2015

Pharis and Jason Romero hail from the small town of Horsefly, BC, but they're looking to spread their reputation into the world at large with their new album A Wanderer I'll Stay. Before it drops on March 3, the rootsy husband-and-wife duo are streaming it in full on Exclaim.ca.

The album has an appropriately rustic origin story, as the couple recorded it with David Travers-Smith (Oh Susanna, the Wailin' Jennys) in the workshop of their own J. Romero Banjo Company. It features a few guest musicians who help set the backwoods vibe with instruments like pedal steel and fiddle.

The 12-song collection includes vintage covers like the barebones Civil War number "The Dying Solider," the decades-old cowboy ballad "Goodbye Old Paint," and the playfully pioneering drug ditty "Cocaine Blues." These songs don't sound too stylistically different from the band's own originals, which are similarly timeless in their dust-caked instrumentation and earthy harmonies.

Hear the album below, and check out the Romeros' tour schedule here.

Latest Coverage