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Blessed with a perfect country voice and the uncompromising determination of a punk rocker,
H.C. McEntire (also known as
Heather McEntire) is best known as a member of the bands
Mount Moriah and
Bellafea, as well as for her work as a solo artist. With
Mount Moriah,
McEntire began exploring the atmospheric side of Southern roots music, and in her solo work, she dug deeper into this territory, mixing the artful side of indie rock with melodies and vocal lines that harken back to traditional country and folk. Her solo debut, 2018's
Lionheart, introduced her new variations on her style, and 2020's
Eno Axis upped the indie rock side of the formula.
Heather Cecelia McEntire was born in rural North Carolina on September 13, 1981. She was raised in a farming community, and her parents were evangelical Christians who worked as part of Billy Graham's television ministry.
McEntire grew up on a musical diet of gospel music, bluegrass, and Christian country music. It wasn't until she went away to college (where she studied creative writing and women's studies) that she felt free enough to accept herself as a lesbian and step away from her Christian upbringing. She also worked at the college radio station, where she embraced punk rock.
By the early 2000s,
McEntire had learned to play guitar and co-founded the indie rock band
Bellafea; the group released an EP,
Family Tree, in 2005, and they struck a deal with Southern Records, which issued the LP Cavalcade in 2008. In 2010,
McEntire looked back to the country and gospel sounds of her youth as she formed the group
Mount Moriah with
Horseback guitarist
Jenks Miller. Playing music that viewed the sounds of the American South through a prism of indie rock,
Mount Moriah issued a debut EP, The Letting Go, in 2010, with their first full-length album,
Mount Moriah, following in 2011. The duo signed with the respected indie label Merge Records and issued their second album,
Miracle Temple, in 2013. During their downtime from
Mount Moriah,
McEntire and
Miller made music with their side project Un Deux Trois, and she toured as part of
Angel Olsen's backing band.
After
Mount Moriah released their third album,
How to Dance, in 2016,
McEntire found herself struggling with depression and felt at loose ends with her bandmates. While working on a project for Girls Rock -- a group that uses music programs to empower girls, women, and people of marginalized genders --
McEntire met
Kathleen Hanna, founder of
Bikini Kill,
Le Tigre, and
the Julie Ruin.
Hanna urged
McEntire to record a solo project, and helped her sort through the songs she considered for the album. In February 2018, Merge released
McEntire's solo debut, which was titled
Lionheart and credited to
H.C. McEntire. Her second solo effort, 2020's
Eno Axis, was still rooted in country and folk while adding a more airy and indie-oriented approach to the arrangements and production. ~ Mark Deming