H.C. McEntire

THE INDIE-ROCK VETERAN EXPLORES NEW GROUND ON HER LATEST ALBUM, EVERY ACRE

- Jim Beaugez

ON 2023’S EVERY Acre, H.C. McEntire made a bold step in her evolution from the noise-rock howler of her younger years into a graceful singer-songwriter — and a crucial ingredient in that transition showed up in co-guitarist Luke Norton.

Whereas McEntire was the sole guitar player in her previous bands and projects, weaving together rhythm and lead elements in her own way, the jazz-trained Norton complemented her playing and freed her to focus more on songwriting than ever before.

“We wrote a lot of the songs together,” McEntire says. “He would write a guitar riff or a fingerpicked pattern, then I would write a [guitar] melody or vocal melody on top. We negotiate space in a cool way.”