If sound were a location, the wares of Edith Makes a Paper Chain would be an well-loved meadow, where toes flirt with the fresh cut grass underneath crisp blue skies. Familiar and eternal, the music radiates from within and surrounds you with its warmth.

Lead vocalist and songwriter Sarah Hope’s voice elicits a feeling that spans generations. Haunting, yet inching the listener closer with her steady lyrics. Modest on stage, Hope also plays guitar and her presence is devout with child’s grace.

The local group plays two shows here this week: The “What if…?” festival on Saturday and the Secret Garden on Tuesday.

Edith was formed in 2006 and took their name from a caption of an image in a library book of an older woman with a beehive and cat-eye glasses: “Edith makes a paper chain,” it said.

Edith Makes a Paperchain has lost and gained members during the past six years, which caused the band to adapt and change. In the quest to forge their own path, Edith has picked up the trait of inclusion.

“It is very positive,” said keyboardist and trombone player Jeremy Van Hoy. Also in the group now are vocalist Miette Hope on ukelele and guitar, Mike Kimlico on bass and vocals, Matt Chmielarczyk on mandolin, ukulele and electric guitar and drummers John Litchenberg and Aimee Spillane. “We all bring in suggestions for cover songs as well as diverse original material.”

While you might hear threads of A-List acts Feist and Beirut, Van Hoy likes to define the group’s sound as “indie-folk.” Still, he acknowledges that their music covers a lot of thematic ground. But quite frankly, he doesn’t favor being stymied by labels.

“Our sound has started to go a little more pop,” said Van Hoy. “We don’t want to be the loudest or catchiest, just the most enjoyable. We play music we love and hope to find an enthusiastic audience.” 

Edith has certainly garnered a following. They released “Tunes for Tripping Down Stairs” in 2009, “Beau and Arrow” in 2010 and are currently working on a third album.

And they’ve won their share of awards. In 2009, the band received the Pikes Peak Arts Council Award for Excellence in the Arts in the Popular Music. And this year, they also were voted Best Folk Band by readers of the Colorado Springs Independent.

What’s their greatest success so far? Van Hoy and Hope have differing thoughts.

“We packed Venue 515 for our album release (of) ‘Beau and Arrow’ two years ago,” said Van Hoy. “This changed our attitude about being a fun side-project to investing more in Edith’s future.”

For Hope, a collaboration with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra at the Modbo on June 15 stands out as her most amazing experience. The ensemble performed the Edith song “There, There, There” to a packed room at S.P.Q.R.

Van Hoy says he loves “There, There, There,” and calls it his favorite Edith song “because of its powerful shape.”

And almost no instrument is off their radar either. In fact, Hope is proud of the band’s newest apparatus: a typewriter played by Miette Hope.

Despite not being signed by a record label, Edith Makes a Paperchain has spent some time on the road since 2010. Touring has helped the band come together as an extended family, Van Hoy says, adding that the recent success will help the venture flourish. 

“It reinforces that we are doing the right thing by investing in Edith.”

Photo by

Photo by

Photo by