Margo Cilker
Biography
Valley of Heart’s Delight
Margo Cilker’s sophomore album, Valley of Heart’s Delight, refers to a place she can’t return: California’s Santa Clara Valley, as it was known before the orchards were paved over and became more famous for Silicon than apricots. In this 11-song follow-up to 2021’s critically acclaimed Pohorylle, family and nature intertwine as guiding motifs, at once precious and endangered, beautiful and exhausting. Cilker and Pohorylle producer Sera Cahoone brought most of that record’s highly-acclaimed crew (studio players for The Decemberists, Band Of Horses, and Beirut) back to the studio with additional contributions from acclaimed Northwest traditionalist Caleb Klauder. Valley of Heart’s Delight, Cilker’s second record on Portland, Oregon label Fluff & Gravy Records, follows a year busily reaping the fruits of Pohorylle’s success, with festival appearances at Pickathon, Treefort, and End Of The Road, and tours supporting American Aquarium, Hayes Carll, Drive-By Truckers, and Joshua Ray Walker.
Margo Cilker lives near the Columbia River in Goldendale, Washington with her husband, songwriter and working cowboy Forrest VanTuyl, as well their dog and some horses.
Video & Press
Stereogum Album of The Week: Margo Cilker Valley Of Heart’s Delight
[Stereogum] BY CHRIS DEVILLE Before the computer scientists, marketing agencies, and self-described “disruptors” had their way with it, the Santa Clara Valley used to be known as the Valley Of Heart’s Delight. The Northern California region was so nicknamed because its abundance of orchards, plants, and flowering trees made it a leading exporter of canned fruit […]
Margo Cilker Premieres ‘With The Middle’
[Holler.] Maybe it’s the weight of the world holding us all down, but just getting through a whole day without giving up and going back to bed is difficult these days. It’s often the middle of the day that feels like the hardest part of it. Those hours between your dwindling early morning enthusiasm and […]
Margo Cilker Hunts for a ‘Lowland Trail’ in First Release From New Album
The singer-songwriter is poised to have a breakout year with the upcoming Valley of Heart’s Delight [Rolling Stone] BY JON FREEMAN Margo Cilker is keeping an eye out for an easier patch of ground in “Lowland Trail,” the first offering from her new album Valley of Heart’s Delight. The follow-up to Cilker’s acclaimed 2021 album Pohorylle, the […]
Song You Need to Know: Margo Cilker, ‘Kevin Johnson’
[Rolling Stone] The Oregon musician shows that she is as interested in reinvigorating Southern country-folk storytelling tropes as she is in exposing their flaws By JONATHAN BERNSTEIN Margo Cilker stakes out the geography of her native Pacific Northwest on her stunning debut, Pohorylle. On “That River,” that classic country-folk source of renewal becomes a symbol of […]
One to Watch: Margo Cilker
[The Guardian] The American singer-songwriter’s expertly honed country-rock is as frank and fresh as it is warm and familiar Emily Mackay California-born, Oregon-based Margo Cilker has honed her story-songs on the road for years, travelling across the US and the Basque country of Spain, where she formed a covers band playing the likes of Creedence, Dylan and […]