Students and staff passing through the Fireside Lounge last March could hear the melodies of Paul Wright and Tim Harrington, members of the Boston-based folk duo Tall Heights.

Tall Heights will be returning to EWU on Sept. 27 to perform at noon in the campus mall as part of the Neighbor Festival, which is an annual event sponsored by Student Activities Involvement and Leadership and Career Services.

Wright said that he and Harrington began playing music together after graduating
college in 2010. They have known each other since childhood, when Harrington’s elder brother was Wright’s best friend.

Harrington plays guitar and Wright plays the cello; both members sing vocals.

In the words of NPR’S Meghna Chakrabarti, the band has developed a sound which: “create[s] a rare public space where the people can slow down, even stop, and suspend the chaos of city life in exchange for some really great music.”

Tall Heights has released two extended plays, “Rafters” and “The Running of the Bulls.” In May, the band released its debut full-length album titled “Man of Stone.”

Tall Heights has been featured on Conan O’Brien’s website TeamCoco.com and has been acclaimed in multiple reviews from Boston
Magazine, NPR and
David Wilcox. The duo also played at South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and is presently in the midst of another national tour.

“This is technically our first full-length [album], so it feels like it has more weight. … We felt really strongly that it needed to feel like two people,” Wright said. “We did this one on our own which is how we did the first [extended play].”

“I was reading about how cavemen did all the paintings on the walls of their caves … as a way of documenting day-to-day [occurrences]. … We went a long way from being cavemen to now,” Wright said in regards to the inspiration for “Man of Stone.” “I thought the whole message of documenting experience was a powerful one, … finding inspiration, finding light.”

Wright said bands that have inspired him and Harrington include Gregory Allen
Isakov, with whom he and Harrington recently played with, Andrew Bird, The Tallest Man on Earth and Laura Marling, with whom the duo recently performed at Martha’s Vineyard.

Wright said the show at Martha’s Vineyard was full of energy and positivity.

“When we get to play with someone that we really love and they’re really enthusiastic it’s kind of like you’re in a dream,” Wright said.

After their show at EWU, Tall Heights will also perform at Gonzaga University on Oct. 2. Wright said he and Harrington feel that they have much more to do musically in the United States, but hope to eventually tour Europe. He said they intend to maintain the band’s signature folk duo style that has been so well received by fans thus far.

“We want to stay consistent with what we’re doing and keep the duo thing going, … keep playing songs that are really emotional,” he said.

Wright said that he and Harrington are enthused to be returning to eastern Washington and EWU.

“For us, it’s all about the students. And as opposed to some other venues, college kids are just so eager to come up and ask questions and share things about themselves,” Wright said. “That’s special about college shows. Obviously we meet great people at all our shows, but it’s fun because we get to interact with students.”