The High Crest

The High Crest is getting ready to hit the road.

Not for some small weekend tour. The husband/wife duo of Aaron Earl Short and Kat Darling is going all in. They’ve put their house on the market and are looking at RVs. They’re more or less going to live on tour.

Think about what you would need to take with you to live on the road. Now add in the instruments musicians would need to make a living. Oh, and they have a 6-year-old daughter, Abileen, who will be coming with them. Plus a dog and a cat.

This isn’t four 22-year-olds cramming themselves into a van and leaving their obligations at home. Even after downsizing their lives in preparation, Short and Darling have a lot of baggage to take with them.

“One of the hard things is we don’t know what’s realistic yet,” Darling said. “We know the music side, we can handle about anything there. But when you start talking about bringing a cat in a motorhome, that’s a new experience.”

They don’t have their transportation/new home yet. The couple are looking to get a class C motorhome, the kind with beds, a bathroom and kitchen. The High Crest has gone on tour with Abileen before, building a bed for the back of the van and a special bed in the front seat for Abileen. That worked for a short trip to the west coast, but isn’t a realistic long-term solution for their travels.

Nor is a string of shows at bars. The High Crest regularly plays shows as a duo, but at its heart it is a family band. Abileen has sung with the group at all-ages shows, as well as performances at libraries and the Downtown Farmers’ Market. Whenever possible on the road they would like to play similar shows to keep her involved with the set.

Abileen has been a part of the show since before she was born. When Darling was seven months pregnant she sat in drumming with Short’s previous band, The Creek Dwellers. When Abileen was just a few months old, The High Crest played a show at Ritual Cafe. Abileen was on stage, Darling playing guitar while she rocked Abileen’s carrier with her foot. By the time she was three, Abileen was doing mic checks for shows.

“At the farmers market is where we really see the power of Abileen playing with us,” Darling said. “The crowds just assemble when she starts to sing. She gets us a lot of tips down there. This year we did a pre-show in the lobby of the Civic Center and she got up and sang for almost a full hour.”

“We’re working her up to the five-hour sets,” Short joked.

Darling said that there’s really no rules for what they’re trying to do, but they did look to others for advice. One source she turned to was Vicki Price, a Decorah-based blues musician who travels approximately 45,000 miles a year playing shows with her guitarist husband, Joe.

“I told them that once you’re on the road, you have to work as many nights as you can,” Price said. “You might not make as much on a Tuesday night as a Friday or a Saturday, but you have to work Tuesday even if it’s just to pay for your gas and the food you’re eating.”

Price also told the couple to develop a circuit. She and Joe head to different parts of the country at different times of the year. The High Crest is looking to play around the Midwest, the West Coast, Texas and Colorado. They’re working with the Des Moines-based Shotgun Mgmt to fill up their calendar.

Earlier this year The High Crest released a double album, “Gone,” featuring 24 songs. Short and Darling mostly write individually for the most part, trading off songs on the album’s track listings. Many of Short’s songs have a darker bent, with songs like “Bourbon & Vicodin,” “Withdrawal Blues” and “Goodbye Whiskey” dealing with his (ultimately successful) struggle for sobriety. Darling’s songs are largely about losing her mom to cancer, but have a more hopeful bent, like “Carry Me,” “By My Side” and “I Do This For You.”

“When our first album came out, it was 14 songs and we felt like that’s not enough of our songwriting,” Darling said. “That’s just a few songs each. For our second album we felt like more material for each of us would be beneficial.”

Darling and Short have been playing together for 10 years now, and in some ways their experiences have been building up to living in a smaller space. Early in their relationship, they shared a trailer while Darling and her mom ran a coffee shop in Anita. They shared a 450-square-foot brick cabin in Casey. The east-side home where they’ve lived for the last five years has been their largest space, and they’ve had multiple garage sales in recent months trying to pare down their belongings and instruments.

“Now tiny living is a necessity,” Darling said. “I like it. You can focus more on the business of writing and creating.”

The High Crest hopes to be on the road by February or March. Initially they plan to do some shorter trips around the Midwest, returning to stay with family in the area. Once summer arrives, they’re looking to get booked on the festival circuit, which will lead to some longer trips. But Darling and Short wanted to stress that even though they’re giving up their permanent home here, Iowa is still their home base.

They’re almost ready to hit the road. The nonessential possessions are gone. Darling has been homeschooling Abileen for the last two years and has found that there’s a network of parents who are doing similar things on the road. Soon it will be time to head out and see if this is a life they can make work for a family.

“If it was just Aaron and I, we would play The High Crest every night,” Darling said. “But we want Abileen to be involved. We’ve got two worlds we’re trying to combine. We’ve almost done it.” - Des Moines Register - Juice Magazine

Launching the Boat: A New Life for The High Crest

July 24, 2014

Written by Patresa Hartman

On their wedding night, Kat Darling and Aaron Earl Short borrowed a houseboat and set to drift on the Mississippi River near Guttenberg. Neither of them had ever manned the helm of a houseboat. But how hard could it be? When the winds kicked up, they found out.

Waves pounded every side of the vessel. They lurched, weeble-wobbled, and zig-zagged through volatile waters. Where the river grew shallow, they finally came to rest, wild-eyed, on a sandbar. Unsure what to do next, Short explained with a half-grin, “We decided to sit there and wait to see if anyone looked at us like we were nuts.”

No one did. Eventually, the river calmed and the sky filled with stars. They were right where they were supposed to be.

Darling and Short, who together are the popular folk duo, The High Crest, are in some ways back on that houseboat. Or maybe they never actually left. Maybe they’ve been zig-zagging wild-eyed through choppy waters from sandbar to sandbar ever since. Even now, they’re heading bow-first into a new kind of life.

The day I talked with The High Crest, they were emptying the contents of their east side home, sorting and pricing them for a weekend garage sale—all part of the master plan to sell the house and go mobile. No hulls and rudders this time; they’ll be on camper wheels.

Darling spoke passionately about her research into minimalism and their quest to purge and start fresh. The contents of their new life will be trimmed to fit between the necessities: homeschooling supplies for 6-year-old daughter, Abileen; culinary tools for foodie, Darling’s, kitchen creations; and of course, the bones of their live show—guitars, drums, Short’s harmonica collection, and sound equipment.

They’ve been edging toward this launch for years, perhaps since the moment they met jamming at a mutual friend’s house after Beaverdale Fall Fest. All those years ago, sensing potential, Short invited Darling over afterward for another jam.

The timing was right. Short, who’d played for years with local band, The Creek Dwellers, was on the brink of a burnout. An opportunity in Minneapolis had him contemplating a move. Darling was just figuring herself out musically, finding tunes on an acoustic guitar and singing harmonies for others.

It was during this inaugural duo jam that the pair realized Darling was a drummer. As Short picked through guitar licks, Darling flipped hers over and pounded out a rhythm on the back. “Man, she had really great rhythm!” Short declared. Eventually, Darling would move her drum lines from the back of an acoustic guitar to a full kit and finally to what Darling is widely recognized for: the djembe.

The two continued to jam and gel. They uncovered their distinct sound—a sort of driving, whiskey-soaked, bluegrass, heartstrings, storytelling folk, braided into the thrum of a tribal drum circle. They uncovered their strengths as songwriters individually and together. And they learned their connection went a lot deeper than the music.

During a late night game of cards at a friend’s house, each player was challenged to guess the card held by the person across the table. Darling stared at Short directly across from her. “Five of hearts,” she said. And she was right.

The uncanny connection epitomized their success as a duo (both on and off the stage). They still refer to moments of “mind-reading” as their 5 of Hearts moments. Audiences see it on stage when they spontaneously veer off in the same direction in the middle of a song or a set. They named their production company “5 of Hearts,” too, as an homage to that moment of recognition.

As a folk duo and as a couple, they moved back to Darling’s hometown of Atlantic. Darling, whose formal training was in culinary arts, managed The Weather Vane, a coffee shop in Anita. Missing the Des Moines music scene, however, they moved back after a year.

Back in Des Moines, Darling and Short played basement jams and parties over the course of two years before getting married and welcoming daughter Abileen. But a surprise visit from a U.S. Marshall followed by a flood sent them back to Atlantic.

In 2008, Darling and Short had just welcomed new baby, Abileen, when a U.S. Marshall surprised them in the middle of the night at the front door of their rental home. Officers surrounded the home “locked and loaded” looking for the previous tenant. It was too much for beleaguered new parents. “We’ve got to get out of here,” they said.

Before they could, the river rose. That year’s historic Des Moines flood filled the basement with a foot of water. They lost wedding photos, guitars, speakers, and more than a little enthusiasm. As they held their crying new baby on the basement steps contemplating what they could salvage, the lights of a power strip flickered under the surface. The basement clothes dryer sent a spark and electrified the water. They were done. They packed up as soon as waters receded, and they moved to the Darling family farm in Messina.

For a time, it seemed things had settled. They moved into their own place in Casey. They found their groove as parents. But then in the summer of 2009, Darling’s mom was diagnosed with cancer. By the time it was discovered, the cancer had spread. Darling’s mother died that same September.

The loss was devastating, and as Darling describes it, the grief was intolerable. Five years later, it still is. Her mom had been her biggest fan. She’d instilled in Darling the idea that you don’t have to “make it” in order to make a life out of music. It’s a sentiment that has stuck with them both.

They moved back to Des Moines.

As Darling navigated through her grief, Abileen grew. Short began to take inventory of his own demons, chief among them: alcohol. When it came to drinking, Short didn’t know moderation; so he decided to quit.

In a way, it was another loss. Booze had been Short’s go-to crutch. He used it to relax before shows. Giving it up did not come without fear. “I was afraid the music would get better,” he said, leaving him without a rationalization for keeping the habit.

Darling served as Short’s “sober buddy” for a while. As a motion of solidarity, she gave up drinking, too. “We chose music to be the drug instead of booze,” she reasoned. If they could zone out and into the music, they could achieve the same calming effects alcohol had provided. Only, this time, it would serve the music instead of detract from it.

Short recounted the difficult year of withdrawal he endured; but the reward has been sweet. Sober, he’s discovered he has more stamina to get through long sets. His voice is stronger. Their music is tighter. His songwriting is better, because his standards are higher. “I’m more aware of what I’m putting on paper,” he said.

2008 and 2009 served as considerable shake-down years for the duo. Volatile waters sent them lurching and zig-zagging, wild-eyed and uncertain. They started a family, bounced from one place to the next, grieved, and sobered up. But they kept plodding forward.

In the five years since life turned inside-out, they’ve found their stride. They’ve built an impressive catalog of music and a solid fan base. Their debut album released in January 2013. They’ve diversified their set, branching into children’s music and featuring daughter Abileen. And they’ve finally found a way to process the upheaval that came before: They work it out in their music.

The duo’s most ambitious project to date, a 24-song double album, is set to release in October 2014. They’ve signed on with Des Moines area representatives, Shotgun Management, to help launch the new project, including a crowd funding campaign to aid in duplication and distribution. Entitled Gone, the collection features thematic hard hitters, songs traveling the landscape of Darling’s grief and Short’s struggle toward sobriety. The authentic High Crest sound remains and is accompanied by hard-earned maturity and wisdom.

The process of writing the songs and then sharing them night after night has been cathartic; and it’s come perfectly aligned with their new direction. As they’ve purged their material possessions in preparation for a new life, so too have they purged their emotional burdens. Darling calls it transformative.

The transition into this new minimalistic life on the road brings its own list of worries. Will they need a stationary home base? What will Abileen’s homeschooling look like? How will they eat nutritiously on the road? Will they be able to provide for their family? How will cat Mango and dog Zapata adapt? How will they manage with so few things? But if the trials have taught them anything, it’s that things work out when you let them.

“We have to trust that there will be support for us. There’s a whole community out there of families doing exactly what we want to do,” Darling said.

Regardless, they’ve been here before. They started this journey on a reeling houseboat on the Mississippi River. All they have to do now is launch the boat and stay the course until the waters calm…because they always do.

For updates on The High Crest and to learn more about the crowd funding campaign to launch the double album, Gone, you can visit The High Crest at their website.

Patresa Hartman is a freelance writer, musician, and generally beautiful person. - Band Bombshell

Cityview Magazine
Chad Taylor
August 16, 2014


Sound Circuit

Staying the course

8/13/2014


The biggest factor that makes The High Crest great — and make no mistake, the duo of Kat Darling and Aaron Earl Short is great — is their ability to be unflinchingly, and at times uncomfortably, honest. There’s a simplicity to the pair’s writing style that can make it easy for anyone who’s not paying attention to write the band off as kind of a lark. But The High Crest’s songs are a master class in the power of honest songwriting. When the emotions and concepts that you’re dealing with are so blatantly truthful, there’s no reason to make the language they’re conveyed in any more flowery than necessary.

“Some of these songs are from very dark places,” Darling admits. “Those are the hardest ones to talk about, the hardest ones to record and the hardest ones to listen to. And I know that those songs are going to be the hardest for the listener as well. But when I make the switch from musician to listener, I know that those are the songs I enjoy the most.”

The duo’s new album is a double disc affair, 24 songs that cover the complete tapestry of the human condition. It was a cathartic project to write and arrange, and now they’re in the final push to get the album pressed and released. It’s been a considerably harder process than their first time through.

“Because of it being a double-length album, the studio costs are about three times more than we spent on the last album,” Darling said.

Darling and Short are going all-in with The High Crest, and the new double album is a testament to that. The pair is also in the process of selling their home in order to transition into a mobile home to allow them the travel and tour more extensively.

“We’re definitely jumping into a new lifestyle,” Darling said.

“It makes for some stressful nights,” Short admitted. “You kind of lie there awake, feeling the stress in your shoulders. But then (Darling) comes home, and we’ll just talk until 2 in the morning.”

Both admit they couldn’t do it without the other. But with the mutual support and the love of a common goal, every step on their path feels like the right one.

“The most important part is that we just keep creating music,” Darling said. “There’s a lot of logistics involved. But I know that if we’re flexible, the opportunities are out there.” CV - Cityview Magazine

Des Moines Music Coalition
Todd Partridge
January 15, 2013

The High Crest is Des Moines' Aaron Short and Kat Darling and their recently released self-titled debut album of heartfelt, real-life folk songs gets you a seat around the well-worn family kitchen table with the husband and wife duo. Like conversation at a family get-together, the songs move at a comfortable pace, meant to be sipped and savored, not digested in small chunks, but enjoyed and lingered over like a slow meal.

The couple trade main vocal duties pretty evenly, with 7 songs featuring Aaron's voice and 6 featuring Kat's. "Front Porch Boogie", a nice resonator and djembe instrumental, caps off the record. Kat's songs are reflective imagery, painted in broad strokes, with a daydreamer's gaze, out the kitchen window, wondering about the state of personal tribulations in the big universe. The tea kettle is on, the bills might not be paid, and things might not be perfect, but things are just fine for the moment. Aaron's songs are seasoned with hymns that call on the Greg Brown school of Midwestern roots music, with whiskey and beer soaked tales of retribution and introspection. His are real life lyrics and scrappy stories, mostly looking back, not ahead, through a cracked and smudged rearview mirror.

High Crest's songs are flavored with acoustic guitar, harmonica, djembe, resonator guitar and ample vocal harmonies. Kat's foot-tapping "120" tells the tale of the exhilarating freedom of a high-speed car race, with shades of Emmy Lou Harris, Dar Williams, and Tift Merrit. Aaron's "Burning Out" speaks the same regional dialect as Minnesota's native folk icon Charlie Parr; wistful folk-storytelling from the woodshed, on the wrong side of the train tracks. "At The Church" recounts schoolboy fights in the parking lot of a church. "Sing It For You" is a waltzing, lullaby love song, with woven harmonies wrapping the singers together. Clearly this is a couple that loves music and if their union is strong enough to withstand the stretching and pulling of creative fabric through the process of making a record together, god bless em'! The songs flow like the two singers are passing the guitar back-and-forth and sharing their stories with a familiar audience. At the end, while pleased with the richness and flow of the songs, this listener was pining for a good-old fashioned duet, trading verses like John Prine and Iris Dement, Richard and Linda Thompson or Johnny and June.

There is nothing earth shattering or new here - no musical breakthroughs or genre-breaking epiphanies - just 70's influenced folk guitars and melodies presented in familiar ways, but I often walk the same dusty rural Iowa back roads and fields near my parents house, where I grew up, and enjoy the walks more with each passing year. Beauty isn't always in discovering new places, but in discovering new things from comfortable old places and memories past.

-Todd Partridge

Todd Partridge has been active in the Iowa music community for over 25 years. Performing original music with several Iowa Rock/Blues/Roots music groups. He also manages Old School Studios - a recording studio set up in an 90 year old, 3-story brick school building. Currently, he is working on a new album with his band King Of The Tramps. - Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC)