Chamberlin
“Dust”
Playing Wednesday at City Winery (155 Varick St., South Village)
Get: Tickets ($25) | Directions

Bonfires, harsh winters, geographical isolation and women are the themes in nine twangy folk rock songs that Mark Daly and Ethan West wrote in their mountainside cabin in Goshen, Vermont.

"We didn't think much of them at the time -- basically rehearsing with a microphone on -- but those acoustic tracks had some legs,” said West.

Soon after, Daly and West recruited Jamie Heintz, Eric Maier and Charles Whistler to play drums and guitars with them, and a band that they named Chamberlin -- so called after a painting on their cabin wall -- was born.

Chamberlin soon signed onto the label Roll Call Records, recorded their contemplative songs in a Burlington studio and released them as Bitter Blood this past March. Scott Tournet, a fellow Vermont musician who plays guitar for Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, produced the record.

The Vermont group plays a Hurricane Irene benefit at City Winery Wednesday night. If you can't make it to the show, download "Dust" to hear Chamberlin's clear, poignant vocals soar while acoustic guitars and drumsticks harmonize and keep the beat. Or watch the band performing the song at South by Southwest in the video below.

Dust (live at SXSW) by Chamberlin from Big Ugly Yellow Couch on Vimeo.