If you’re fuming over Amendment One and its constitutional discrimination against gays who want to marry (side effects pending), a serving of Mount Moriah’s heartbreaking folk-rock is just what the doctor ordered.
The harrowing and emotional poetry woven by Heather McEntire (also of Bellafea) hinges on her experience of growing up gay in the rural mountains of North Carolina as she sifts through the ashes of burnt-out relationships and tackles the societal impact of her sexuality. Shining brightly above the smoldering riffs of Horseback guitarist Jenks Miller, she narrates with a piercing croon.
On “Reckoning,” a highlight from last year’s Mount Moriah LP, McEntire confronts her religious mother, defiantly whispering, “If this love’s the devil’s curse/ I don’t want your cure.” Mount Moriah play this Asheville gig in support of Horse Feathers, a brittle but elegant Portland folk outfit.
The two bands play The Grey Eagle alongside Matt Bauer on Wednesday, May 16. $12 to $14, 8:30 p.m.
