Sara Horton and Melanie Wiggins met in 2016 when Sara was looking for a roommate in New York. Though they frequently talked about the  possibility of collaborating musically, it was nearly a year before Melanie shared her songs with Sara. Together they formed Hearth and began performing in clubs around New York. Sara’s memories of a restaurant that her grandparents loved – Open Hearth –  in her hometown of Greer, South Carolina influenced not only the name but the sound the duo projects. Melanie was raised in Northern Virginia and heard about Riverland Collective from a high school friend who happened to be Gus Guthrie’s daughter. It was pure serendipity that Melanie and Sara met and that Melanie had the connection to Riverland Collective.