NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Feb 4, (Agencies): Even Grammy voters don’t know what to do with The Civil Wars.
The duo has been nominated for best folk album and best country duo/group performance, two categories that bear little resemblance to each other. Fellow nominees run the spectrum from Kenny Chesney to Eddie Vedder to Gillian Welch and Fleet Foxes.
And John Paul White and Joy Williams love it.
“We kind of had a little bit of a grin between the two of us and our team as well about that, too,” Williams said. “I think it’s fun the fact that we can’t be pigeon-holed into one or the other. That’s just fine with us.”
“We’re going for best dance recording next year. We’re going to do a dubstep record,” White joked.
The truth is, they don’t have time to record an album right now.

Success
The Civil Wars were one of music’s underground success stories of 2011. The pair of hardworking, long-toiling solo artists joined as a songwriting partnership and found the next step in their performance careers. Championed by Taylor Swift, Adele and dozens of other artists, it’s been a nonstop acceleration as they continue to sell copies of their 2011 debut album “Barton Hollow,” tour the United States and Europe, and collaborate with artists they never would have expected.
They recently debuted “Safe & Sound,” their “Hunger Games” soundtrack song with Taylor Swift, live at Ryman Auditorium with a surprise visit from the pop star. And they unveiled the new documentary soundtrack for “Finding North” which they co-wrote with T Bone Burnett at Sundance.
They’ll leave for their first European tour about two weeks after the Feb. 12 Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles.
They hope to spend time there with fellow nominee Swift, who has become a close friend. Swift knew each as a solo artist, and was instrumental in drawing attention to them at a pivotal point in the duo’s career.

“I love The Civil Wars because they’re such a perfect example of two people who seem to be absolutely meant to make music together,” Swift said in an email. “Seeing JP and Joy come up with harmonies in the studio together is like watching a pair of twins communicating in their own way, finishing each other’s sentences and thoughts.”
That incredible chemistry has led to new heights each week, it seems. They hope to achieve the same kind of audience reaction in Europe. In less than a year, their audience has grown from a hundred or so a show to thousands who soak in their dramatic harmonies and simple instrumentation in rapt silence.
“I’d be lying if we said we had our brains wrapped completely around it,” White said. “We’ve kind of had blinders on all the last year and just focused on what’s going on that day. And each night we look up to a bigger crowd in a bigger city, a bigger piece of transportation, our crew gets bigger and it’s like, ‘How did this happen?’”


The Decca music label is looking for a singer who can go where no other singer is believed to have gone before — a low “E”, which is nearly three octaves below a middle “C” on the piano.
Paul Mealor, the composer behind the surprise British Christmas chart hit “Wherever You Are” sung by The Military Wives choir, has written a composition called “De Profundis (Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”.
It features a low E which is six semitones lower than the “B Flat” from Rachmaninov’s “Vespers”.

Voice
“My setting of De Profundis calls for a rich and powerful voice; a voice that can not only touch the heart with its sincerity and truth, but also make every fabric of the human body resonate as it plunges into the very lowest parts of the vocal spectrum,” Mealor said in a statement.
The search for the bass will be conducted through trade magazines on the Internet.
According to Guinness World Records, the lowest known note produced by a human voice is a low “F Sharp” achieved by American Roger Menees in 2010.
Singers have been invited to send in demo tapes or upload recordings of their voice to the website www.howlowwillyougo.com.
Voices will be judged by Mealor and Grammy-award nominated producer Anna Barry, an authority on Russian choral and vocal music which is one of the composer’s main inspirations.
The record is set for international release in the spring.


Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has said he will not participate in the British heavy metal band’s reunion recordings and tour unless he is offered a “signable” contract.
The statement on his website casts further doubt on the much-hyped return of the veteran rockers, who announced last November that the original line-up were getting back together to write and record their first album in more than 30 years.
They also unveiled plans for a world tour in 2012.
But last month, guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma and, to accommodate his treatment, the band moved from the United States to Birmingham in Britain to continue writing and recording.
The founding members of the heavy metal pioneers were Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Iommi, Geezer Butler on bass guitar and Ward.
“At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour,” Ward said on his website.

Contract
“However, I am unable to continue unless a ‘signable’ contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band.”
He said he worked with the other Black Sabbath members “in good faith” last year and agreed to appear alongside them at the November press conference in Los Angeles.
“Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another ‘unsignable’ contract was handed to me.”
He said he was keen to play on the new album and tour, and was already packed and ready to leave the United States for Britain to join the band.
Ward described feeling “lousy and lonely”, but added that he stood to lose his “rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician” if he signed the contract offered to him.
“If I’m replaced, I have to face you, the beloved Sabbath fans. I hope you will not hold me responsible for the failure of an original Black Sabbath lineup as promoted.”