Over the Rhine - Best Of The IRS Years (2009)

Purveying an appealing blend of folk, country, and torchy pop with soulful female vocals, Cincinnati-based duo Over the Rhine has been going strong since the late 1980s. Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist met while studying at Malone College in Ohio, and formed the group in 1989. Their 1991 debut (and subsequent follow-up) led to a contract with I.R.S. Records, who re-released the band’s first two albums and the new EVE (1994). After the disintegration of I.R.S., their self-released '96 album debuted a sparse, muted sound focusing on Bergquist’s vocals. The Virgin Records subsidiary Back Porch snapped them up in 2001, but they were dropped from the label two albums down the road. Undeterred, they independently released two live albums, and have continued to write and perform.