Travelling Riverside Blues

”I CAN see the Eno from here.” Sitting on her couch with two dogs at her feet, Heather Cecelia McEntire cranes her neck and peers out of the window to the vast lawn and garden outside and to the slow-flowing Eno River just beyond. “I live on top of a small hill, and I can see the pond that feeds the Eno. It’s an easy jaunt down there. I take my dog Lou for walks down by the bridge most days. This house is surrounded by state parks, so everything is green and lush.”

Situated at the end of a long gravel road, McEntire’s house is only a 15-minute drive from downtown Durham, North Carolina, but it’s so secluded that she could be in the middle of the country. She spends most of her days outdoors, either down by the river, writing songs on her porch or tending the impressive garden of chard, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli and green beans. “I can’t seem to get okra off the ground,” she says with a sigh. “That is just a shame to all my friends.”

This plot of land near the banks of the Eno, she explains, holds a lot of history. The river was named after the Eno tribe – also called the Wyanoak – that lived in these parts during the 1600s and 1700s. “The Native American trading path cuts right through the woods here,” she says, before taking a moment to shush one of her dogs. The manmade feeder pond was dug at the beginning of the 20th century as part of the local steam plant that harnessed power from the water’s steady current. “I don’t know if this is obvious from the new record, but I’m obsessed with the Eno.”

The new record she’s referring to is actually called , and it’s her second album released under her own name – well, under her own initials, HC McEntire. Trading the straightforward country sounds of her celebrated 2018 album for a rawer, rougher palette that showcases her loyal backing band, these new songs” she sings on the rustic hymn “River’s Jaw”. “”