Artist Category: Americana | Page 16

Ordinary Elephant

Mesmerizing folk duo Ordinary Elephant has spent the better part of the last decade on a never-ending tour that’s earned married couple Crystal and Pete Damore widespread critical acclaim and made fans of luminaries like Tom Paxton and Mary Gauthier. In 2017, the pair took home the International Folk Music Award for Artist of the Year on the strength of their breakout album, Before I Go, and two years later, they returned with the similarly lauded Honest, which the Associated Press hailed as “one of the best Americana albums of the year.”

The band’s new stripped-down, self-titled collection is the purest distillation of their sound yet, showcasing the arresting power of the couple’s gorgeous harmonies and intricate fretwork. The songs are timeless, rooted in rich, character-driven storytelling, and the performances are similarly transportive, fueled by delicately intertwined banjo, guitar, and octave mandolin. Though the songs were born out of a period of deep uncertainty, the record itself is a work of profound self-assurance, one delivered by a duo whose personal and professional lives embody the limitless possibility of honest, organic collaboration. Press play on Ordinary Elephant and you’ll hear more than just a husband and wife; you’ll hear the sound of sincerity and commitment, of patience and gratitude, of learning to let go of expectation and revel in the simple beauty of the moment.

Ari & Mia

“Strikingly beautiful, distinctive and exhilarating, with expressive vocals that will find a way into hearts and minds” (No Depression), Ari & Mia reference the styles of Southern and Northeastern fiddle music and the early American songbook to create a realm where their own compositions cross paths with older traditions.

Their stylish and sophisticated music honors the sounds of Appalachian cottages, rural dance floors, and urban concert halls. Combine this with their innovative approach to songwriting and the result is a captivating sound.

“Ari & Mia are not creating a new music; they are taking it to another level and exploring areas that have not been attempted in decades. Their all-acoustic, pure and honest approach has significance. Treading the edges of traditional folk in a more faithful manner, they share the lyrical wizardry of 70’s bands Steeleye Span, Tir-na-Nog, and the Incredible String Band, with searing harmony as good as The Beach Boys. The sisters sing in unison like two violins,” continues No Depression on the review of “Out of Stone.” Their two previous albums, “Land on Shore” and “Unruly Heart,” ranked high on the national folk radio charts. They’ve just released a brand new record, Sew the City.

Taylor Ashton

Recorded over the course of a 4,000-mile cross-country roadtrip, Taylor Ashton’s gorgeous new album, Stranger To The Feeling, is a sonic odyssey through the heart of America, one that works its way chronologically and geographically from coast to coast as it meditates on the meaning of closeness and connection in an age of increasing isolation. The performances here are warm and inviting, anchored by Ashton’s deft guitar and banjo work and rich, easygoing melodicism, and the recordings—helmed by producer Jacob Blumberg and captured with a mix of old friends and new collaborators including Courtney Hartman, Big Thief’s Buck Meek, Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price, Vulfpeck’s Theo Katzman, Late Show bandleader Louis Cato, and Mipso’s Jacob Sharp—are alternately sparse and lush, with arrangements often serving as aural reflections of their physical environments. From a blanket in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to a trailer in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest, from a backyard in Wisconsin to a spiritual vortex in Arizona, the settings are inextricable from the songs, and the result is a moving, transportive collection that manages to evoke both the gentle virtuosity of Nick Drake and the buoyant wit of Paul Simon, all while forging its own distinctive path through a landscape at once foreign and familiar.

“After so much time apart, it was really powerful just making music with friends again,” Ashton reflects. “Pulling into someone’s driveway, hugging them, sleeping on their couch, all these things that used to feel so normal suddenly felt very precious, and I wanted to celebrate that.”

While Stranger To The Feeling marks the highly lauded songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s first trip all the way across the United States, Ashton’s no stranger to the road. Born and raised in Canada, he got his start fronting the beloved Vancouver five-piece Fish & Bird and spent most of his late teens and early twenties touring heavily throughout his home country. In 2015, he moved to Brooklyn, where he began busking in the subways to make ends meet, and in 2018, he teamed up with Courtney Hartman for a collaborative album that Rolling Stone proclaimed “packs a punch in today’s mainstream.” Two years later, Ashton released his long-awaited solo debut, The Romantic, earning widespread praise alongside dates with the likes of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, Madison Cunningham, The Wood Brothers, and more.

Courtney Hartman

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Courtney Hartman started playing guitar at the age of eight, after having already spent several years on the fiddle and mandolin. Her early years were spent steeped in American Roots music, and today she has fused a diverse range of influences, creating music that acknowledges and pays homage to her roots, while pushing beyond its defined boundaries.

Courtney left her native Colorado for Boston, where she studied in the American Roots Music program at Berklee College of Music where she joined Della Mae, and began to grow as a songwriter. She appeared on the cover of Acoustic Guitar’s 2014 30 under 30 issue where her flatpicking prowess was lauded as “Staggeringly good” by the editors and the Fretboard Journal heralded Courtney as “…easily one of the greatest flatpicking guitarist performing today.”

Courtney now lives in Brooklyn and tours frequently, playing some two-hundred days a year, both at home in the states, and in countries as far off as Pakistan and Vietnam as part of the US State Department’s Music Exchange program. Courtney has also worked with a range of musicians including Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s Mike Campbell, Buffy St. Marie and Hot Rize’s Bryan Sutton. Her solo project, Nothing We Say, was released in September, 2016.

Porch Party Mamas

Inspired by playing and singing each others songs at their own “porch parties”, these established Boston area musicians and singer/songwriters decided to combine their individual talents and create their own brand of Urban Folk, Country and Blues. They took their act on the road and “Porch Party Mamas” was born. All are seasoned players, each with their own pervasive individual music persona and critical accolades. Between them, they have shared the stage with a distinguished litany of artists, including Willie Nelson, the Indigo Girls and Lyle Lovett.

The Porch Party Mamas are an engaging and magnetic Boston-area band of four female musicians who’ve developed a fun and moving unique blend of folk, country, Celtic, and blues repertoire. They play beautiful arrangements of lovely and whimsical songs featuring dynamic lead vocals and lush harmonies backed by virtuosic guitar, fiddle, accordion, piano, percussion, banjo, and bass playing.

The Porch Party Mamas are:

Felicia Brady-Lopez
(vocals, accordion, piano)
Elizabeth Burke
(vocals, fiddle, guitar)
Ksenia Mack
(vocals, guitar, banjo)
Katrin Peterson
(vocals, percussion)

Rick Drost

Rick Drost, a Singer/Songwriter from Cambridge, MA, has been writing songs since the late ’60s with depth and heart: songs that repay repeated listening and convey a long love of classical music, natural wonders, poetry.

Rick has sung in small and large choruses and small acoustic folk groups, but since the early 2000s has been singing solo at open mikes, small clubs and coffeehouses, galleries and listening rooms in New England, the Midwest and the Southeast.

Since retiring in 2015 from a career as a software engineer, Rick is happily expanding the time he can spend listening, reading, writing, and traveling around singing in small venues and festivals.

Rick’s first solo album of his songs, “Turning the World”, produced and recorded by Jon Shain and FJ Ventre of Durham, NC, was released in June 2017. Thanks to all the musicians who contributed so thoughtfully to the treatment of these songs- Jon and FJ on strings and basses, Kaitlin Grady on cello, Bill Newton on harmonica and soprano sax, Chris Frank on accordion, Ed Butler on percussion, all in NC, and composer/pianist Doug Hammer in Lynn MA on piano.

JigJam

JigJam are a multi-award winning quartet from the heart of the midlands in Ireland. Blending the best of traditional Irish music with Bluegrass and Americana in a new genre which has been branded as ‘I-Grass’ or “CeltGrass”, their onstage energy along with their virtuosic musical ability has captivated audiences throughout the world.

Jamie McKeogh, Cathal Guinan and Daithi Melia all hail from Tullamore, Co.Offaly with Co. Tipperary born Gavin Strappe completing the quartet. All four members grew up immersed in Irish traditional music and culture which is reflected by the band collectively achieving over twenty All-Ireland titles at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann competitions. They have now developed their own unique style of music influenced by American Folk music whilst staying true to their Irish roots. Described as ‘The best Irish group so far in bluegrass’ this sharply dressed outfit deliver an energy-fuelled, foot-stomping live performance. All multi-instrumentalists, JigJam interchange between banjos, guitars, fiddles, mandolins and double bass onstage which creates an experience which is pleasing to both the eye and the ear.

Billy Wylder

“A spiritual cousin to Paul Simon’s Graceland” –Seven Days

From the front-lines at Standing Rock to the archaic streets of Jerusalem, the Sahel Desert to Carnegie Hall, music has been the source of strength for Billy Wylder. The band features Avi Salloway (Bombino/Hey Mama/Avi & Celia) joined by an inspired cast of singular artists who have performed in over twenty five countries, including concerts at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, Newport Folk Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. From 2013-16, Salloway toured the globe with Bombino, the Tuareg guitar hero from Niger, Africa. While on the journey and since returning, Salloway wrote a collection of new material that will be released on the band’s forthcoming album, Strike the Match on September 7, 2018.

The music weaves together American folk and rock with sensibilities from the Sahara Desert: think Andrew Bird meets Ali Farka Toure, Pete Seeger and Talking Heads. Mother Earth is at its center, surrounded by stories of love, conflict, change and dreams.

The band has toured extensively, performing and collaborating with renowned artists including Jack Johnson, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bombino, The Low Anthem, and Pete Seeger.

Avi Salloway – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Rob Flax – violin, synthesizers, vocals
Krista Speroni – bass, vocals
Zamar Odongo – drums, vocals

Kevin Connolly

Writing and performing for over twenty years, Kevin Connolly has carved out his own way of writing American songs and earned a reputation as a passionate performer. Connolly has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe while maintaining a strong presence and tie to his New England roots. Working the college and coffeehouse circuit solo, Kevin has also played major festivals including Newport Folk, SXSW, Kerrville Folk and Bumbershoot. He has opened up for a long list of notable artists including Indigo Girls, Huey Lewis, Todd Rundgren and Joan Osborne. Kevin’s songs have also appeared on network television shows and in major motions pictures as well as independent films.

Raised on Boston’s South Shore, Kevin comes from a musical family with composer/brother Jim Connolly, a fixture of the West Coast “New Music” scene. Early influences like John Prine, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan remain inspirations and guiding forces. Writing descriptive songs that capture something about regular life in America today has been a running theme and preoccupation.

The Lynnes

The two witty songwriters play off each other live, often leaving the audience howling with laughter with their between-song-banter. Miles has a slight edge in the humour department. Not surprising given Hanson’s burden of a lifetime of carrying the weight of a superfluous E. In addition to their beautiful harmonies, the two are skilled multi-instrumental musicians (acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica, mandolin, percussion).

 Lynn Miles is one of Canada’s most accomplished singer/songwriters, with fourteen albums to her credit, the winner of four Canadian Folk Music awards (including 2011 English Songwriter of the Year), and a 2003 Juno award for Roots and Traditional Solo Album of the Year. Her song “Black Flowers” appeared on Claire Lynch’s Grammy nominated album “North By South.” “Lynn Miles makes being forlorn feel like a state of grace” – John Pareles, NY Times

Lynne Hanson has been playing her brand of “porch music with a little red dirt” for the past 10 years, has released 6 albums, won the Colleen Peterson Award for songwriting, and been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award. “Lynne seems headed for that record territory inhabited by seasoned songwriters such as Nancy Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mary Gauthier and Lucinda Williams” – Barry Hammond, Penguin Eggs