Big
Harp

Stefanie Drootin and Chris Senseney are music lifers — a married couple whose story began on the road and never really left it. Drootin spent her teens and twenties touring the world as a bassist with the likes of Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, Azure Ray, and M. Ward; Senseney grew up in Nebraska's Sandhills, fell into Omaha's legendary indie scene, and never stopped writing songs. Together they formed Big Harp, releasing three albums of hard-edged folk-rock before a decade-long hiatus that ended not with fanfare but with a casual backyard session and a "layoff special" at a Highland Park studio. The result is Runs to Blue, their fourth album — recorded live with just acoustic guitar, bass, and two voices that know each other like hand and glove. It is their simplest and most emotionally complex record yet: songs about wanderlust and loss, staying in love, watching your kids grow up, and the quiet wisdom that only comes from a life fully lived.