By Siera Schubach, Staff Writer

Published in print Aug. 20, 2014

Each Wednesday of the summer, Central City Park in downtown Greensboro hosts “Tunes at Noon”, a summer treat for city residents that features local and traveling musicians. A lunch time experience, families come from all over the area to hear music and enjoy food with friends. On August 13th, “Tunes at Noon” featured local Greensboro duo Lowland Hum. Husband and wife folk musicians, Daniel and Lauren Goans, beautifully blend their voices with the soft lulls of guitar, tambourine, drums and their own two stomping feet.

“Music brought us together,” Daniel said. The two met at a party four years ago, when Daniel heard Lauren singing along to the radio, seemingly unaware that anyone could hear her. “I remember coming up and introducing myself but she says I just said ‘You should sing with me’, but whatever I said, it worked”. The couple have been married since 2012 and touring ever since.

Lowland Hum sees their concerts as more than music shows but rather “multi-sensory experiences”. Before the music begins, small books of lyrics are passed out to the crowd and the duo encourages everyone to read along. The couple explains that they like to include their audience in the musical experience, striving to create a family-like atmosphere. “We’re all friends here,” the couple explained. Their respective parents also attend the show on Wednesday making it a “real family affair” as Daniel quipped.

As part of the “multi-sensory” experience, Daniel and Lauren encouraged the audience to listen to everything around them and enjoy the day as well as their music. Playing beside City Center’s large fountain, Daniel observed how the smells in the air reminded him of squirt guns and summers as a kid. The duo then encouraged the audience to take part in the sensory experience around them. If anything, their soft vocals enhanced the park surroundings, their music a perfect backdrop to the warm, sunny day. Through personal stories and moments of thought, Lowland Hum brought the audience closer to themselves and their music.

Categorized as a folk duo, Lowland Hum’s sound is a beautiful combination of Lauren’s lilting soft vocals and Daniel’s rougher tones. Their sound could be easily compared to that of The Civil Wars, their lyrics as personal and poetic as the late folk group, without their gutsier edge. Lauren Goan’s high vocals border on etherial, her tone clear and sweet, rising above the stomping feet and guitar to sit amongst the clouds.

Lowland Hum’s tour for their newest album, Four Sisters, is what brought the couple back to the their hometown. Along with performing songs from their new album, the concert also featured songs from the artists that inspired them including U2, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Many of their original songs, they say, come from their heart and are inspired by their life events as well as those of their friends and family.

Beautiful and haunting, the Lowland Hum is a local group not to miss. Starting in September they will be beginning their month long tour of the Midwest, their very first in the region. Being a local band, they count on the funding of their fans and have recently turned to the increasingly popular indie funding platform Kickstarter.

For more information on their Kickstarter project and how to get involved visit their website at http://www.lowlandhum.com. City Center Park’s “Tunes at Noon” continue through the end of September. You can check the schedule at http://www.centercitypark.org/events