The Deer’s Cry is a Nashville based band named after an old Irish prayer. They play and sing original music inspired by Irish, Bluegrass, Jazz, and other world traditional genres.

Their debut album, Rise with the Dawn, is both a haunting invocation and joyful praise, expressing the power of light in the darkness. The album was a journey of the soul for over a two two year period it expanded from a small collection of original songs with harp into a larger, more diverse collaboration.

The Deer’s Cry band is Karen Ballew (Vocals, Celtic Harp, Portative Organ), Bryan Brock (Percussion), Patrick Atwater (Double Bass), and Will MacLean (Banjo), but they also collaborate and record with other artists.

Set to release their sophomore album, Heal the Heart on September 30th, 2022, even though hope permeated the new collection of 10 songs, the album’s creation grew out of dark, sad times.

Recorded at The Doghouse Studio, the album finds harpist/vocalist Ballew grappling with the isolation of the early days of the pandemic and the stories of hatred and division leading the news, a heartbreaking set of circumstances.

Full of uncertainty, she wrote new songs to follow the band’s debut Rise with the Dawn, however, sparks of joy crept in, she noticed messages of transformation and healing throughout her work.

Music itself cannot cure all the wrongs in the world, but there is much we can do through art to remind one another of the beauty in our universe, the intrinsic worth of every living creature, the interconnected nature of all things and the invitation to be part of a story bigger than ourselves, Ballew reflects.

1. Cavern Cathedral
2. Dogwood Tree
3. I Want to Get Through to You
4. Pieces
5. I See His Blood Upon the Rose
6. Heal the Heart
7. The Sermon of St. Francis
8. Night Falls
9. Morning Light
10. Jesus Sees Me

This quite stunningly opulent, and wholly heartfelt new album opens on the veritably ethereal Cavern Cathedral and the flirtatious rhythms within Dogwood Tree and follows those up seamlessly with the mid-tempo melodies of I Want to Get Through to You, the strongly toned Pieces and then comes the pure gossamer of the yearning within I See His Blood Upon the Rose.

Next up is the titular Heal the Heart which is itself backed lovingly by the upbeat and joyous The Sermon of St. Francis, and then come the layered, measured cadences within the spectacular Night Falls, the album rounding out on the Renaissance-imbibed Morning Light, coming to a close on the piano-imbued, ornate and immaculately sculptured Jesus Sees Me.

The Deer’s Cry celebrates the coexistence of different voices and the beauty of various backgrounds and sensibilities working together to serve something greater than any one of us, while at the same time, honoring the character of the individual, Ballew continues.

Indeed, with Heal the Heart, The Deer’s Cry explores the beauty and symbolism of the spiritual, consistently reminding the listeners of both the vastness of our universe and the importance of their role in it.

The band’s name, The Deer’s Cry, comes from a translation of the title of an Old Irish prayer, St. Patrick’s Breastplate, which reflects on the natural beauty, personal strength and protection given by a higher power.

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