Artist Category: Americana

Robinson & Rohe

American songwriters Liam Robinson (banjo, accordion, vocals) and Jean Rohe (guitar, vocals) were brought together over fifteen years ago by their mutual love of afternoon song-swaps, American folk ballads, and wordplay. Since then, they’ve written a distinctive body of original repertoire that draws on the roots music they hold dear, and engages their versatile musical and literary sensibilities as arrangers, improvisers, poets, and producers. Robinson & Rohe deliver a powerful live show replete with effortless harmony singing, soulful grooves, playful humor, and razor-sharp lyrics.

With the release of a cinematic collection of new songs, Into the Night, on Righteous Babe Records in May 2023, the duo brings us “a portrait of togetherness and honest, defiant joy in a messy world,” (Anaïs Mitchell).

Since the release of their debut record, Hunger, in 2017, Robinson & Rohe have taken their music all over the US, Europe, UK, and Ireland, lighting up venerable folk venues and festivals from Club Passim to The Green Note and opening for Tom Paxton and Anaïs Mitchell along the way. Both accomplished artists in their own right, Liam is music director/vocal arranger of the Tony Award-sweeping musical Hadestown on Broadway, and is an original member of the Becca Stevens Band. Jean’s songwriting has won honors from the Kerrville Folk Festival (2022 New Folk winner), the Brooklyn Arts Council (2022 grant recipient), and The Independent Music Awards, among many. She is perhaps best known for her oft-covered video single,“National Anthem: Arise! Arise!”a stirring alternative to the Star Spangled Banner, featuring brass arrangements by Liam.

Robinson & Rohe live in Brooklyn, NY.

Love Crumbs

Love Crumbs is a folk-rock, indie, and Americana group based in Massachusetts. Known for blending poignant lyrics with smashing female vocals, their nostalgic, timeless, heart-on-sleeve sound harkens to a bygone era.

“There are great singers, and then there are great voices. Voices that grab you from the jump and make you go ‘Who is this?’ Ali from Love Crumbs falls into the latter category,” writes Postcard Elba. Their first two single releases, ‘Cavalcades’ and ‘Ellipses’ garnered the group attention from celebrated outlets like American Songwriter, a place on Hype Machine’s popular chart, and multiple Spotify Editorial Playlists like Fresh Finds.

“[T]here are some artists so fizzing with potential that their success seems predestined,” Keep Walking Music writes of Love Crumbs.

The Iguanas

What if Americana actually encompassed ALL of the Americas? You’d have the Tejano and Conjunto sounds of the Texas/Mexico border region, as best exemplified by the accordion and bajo sexto, the American South’s Blues, Jazz and New Orleans R&B, and the lilting grace and fiery passion of the music of the Caribbean, Mexico and Colombia. You’d also have New Orleans’ premier distillers of this musical mélange, The Iguanas.

Taking their cues from all of the above influences and then some, the band’s music redefines the notion of Americana, crossing cultures, styles, eras… and even languages. It’s as if Rue Bourbon, Muscle Shoals and Plaza México were all within earshot of each other and The Iguanas were the musical conduit between them.

Based out of New Orleans for the past couple of decades — save for a short, Katrina-imposed exile in Austin — the members of the Iguanas have (collectively or individually) played or recorded with everyone from Charlie Rich, Alex Chilton, and Willy DeVille to Emmylou Harris, Allen Toussaint, and Pretty Lights. Their two-decade ride has taken them all over the map musically and geographically, yet the inescapable patina of their hometown infuses every note they play.

Through eight studio albums, countless tours and Jazz Fest appearances, and a flood in 2005 that did its best to take their adopted city with it, it’s a testament to the band’s endurance that the same four guys that started playing in the early 1990s are still together. Joe Cabral is philosophical about the band’s persistence in the face of challenges that would have felled — indeed have felled — lesser bands. “First of all, this is all we know how to do; we’re musicians. But more than that,” he continues, “we respect the power of the band as an entity, and each individual in the band steps up to play his part. When it’s good, that’s really what it’s all about.”

Rod Hodges agrees. “I don’t want to get all heady and mystical about this, but it’s not really an outward reward we’re looking for. We all enjoy playing music, we all get along, and finding a group of people who can say that after all this time is a rare thing.”

Preacher & Daisy

Preacher & Daisy, based in Cambridge, MA, is the solo project of Sam Bailey. Raised in rural PA, Bailey’s influences include Lucinda Williams and Little Wings. Preacher & Daisy’s first self-titled release came out in 2017. Subsequently, Preacher & Daisy released the EP, Over Lake Erie, in 2019. This EP was recorded with Eva Hilton (bass), Maddy Baltor (lead guitar), and Cody Edgerly (drums). Returning to a solo act in 2024, Preacher & Daisy released its second full length album, All Your Many Eyes. Recorded in Durham, NC, All Your Many Eyes was produced by Riley Calcagno of the Americana duo group, Viv & Riley.

Billy Keane

Billy Keane is a wanderer, a taker of the scenic route. From college dropout to world traveler to touring musician, Billy’s path is a winding one, and one which he has seen and experienced through the eyes of a singer/songwriter of a unique kind. In early 2020, Billy refound his sobriety from alcohol, ending a long lasting and destructive battle with himself, and beginning a new life of clarity, gratitude, and a deep and abiding appreciation for and love of simple living.

Gaining notoriety as the co-founder of the berkshire based collaborative The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, Billy Keane’s sound is a blending of neo folk/americana with psychedelic indie rock and country. It is inspired by his life, listening and his belief that to be human means to experience the universe and our world, its people and to reflect all that back upon itself through artistic expression. He can be found performing his resounding anthemic songs either as a solo act with an acoustic guitar, or with his band, The Waking Dream

Keane’s debut album, Too Much to Let it Go released in August 2022, has garnered over 200,000 streams, radio play across AAA radio nationally and critical acclaim across No Depression, The Boot and Americana Highways.

Billy’s musical legacy has taken him to festivals all over the country and he has had the honor of sharing the stage with household names like James Taylor, Yo Yo Ma, The Gin Blossoms and Blues Traveler and headlining folk clubs such as Cambridge’s Club Passim, Saratoga Springs Caffe Lena, NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall and San Francisco’s Hotel Utah.

Chatham Rabbits

Sarah McCombie, of the North Carolina duo Chatham Rabbits, is ready for change: “I’m ready for our fans to get to know the people we are now. We’ve grown up together and getting to reveal this album feels like our collective coming of age.”

This declaration is coming from a woman who has spent the past six years building a robust catalog and passionate fanbase within the Americana community with her husband and bandmate, Austin McCombie. A woman who knows there is more to the band’s story than vows, banjos and vintage dresses.

The duo has released three albums — All I Want from You (2019), The Yoke is Easy, The Burden is Full (2020), If You See Me Riding By (2022) — that nod to the old-time roots of their college stringband pastime, but with their new release, Be Real with Me (February 14, 2025), they have demonstrably grown up. “These past two years have totally changed us,” describes Austin. “We’re not as bright-eyed and naive as we were when we committed to Chatham Rabbits full-time.” This honesty is the backbone of their fourth studio album. The title is the ask — or rather the plea — Be Real with Me.

As unified as ever being the McCombies, the two have faced challenges within their marriage, an overhaul of faith and belief systems, a global pandemic, three moves, the loss of beloved family pets, and the heartbreak that is unique to getting really real and brutally honest with each other. Austin’s once fair freckled arms are now adorned with tattoos by artists he’s met on the road, and natural elements that bring him joy. Sarah’s closet is still brimming with vintage pieces, but she’s likely to reach for a slip dress at the moment instead. With their forthcoming release, Sarah is excited for fans to hear the band’s forward momentum. The music speaks for itself.

As Sarah explains, “we got married so young. We are simply not the same people we once were because playing music for a living has consumed and transformed us. This lifestyle has presented us with exhausting tour schedules, vulnerable songs that force us to talk about our marriage, difficult business decisions, and the ever-complicated dilemma of mixing art and money and friends and employees. Ultimately, though, it has been a net positive experience.”

Written post-pandemic by Sarah and Austin and recorded over a two-year period at the Studio at Small Pond Farm, in Pittsboro, NC, Be Real With Me was co-produced by Austin McCombie and the band’s longtime collaborator, Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues, Lou Hazel). This record is the band’s “Return of Saturn,” an astrological phenomenon that occurs around the age of 29, when one reevaluates life, and through trial and error, figures out who and what one would like to commit to moving forward. This record is about doing your best and still failing, facing the imposter in the mirror, wanting to be reckless and young while simultaneously mature and maternal.

Mamma’s Marmalade

Mamma’s Marmalade draws from acoustic traditions spanning Appalachia and the Ozarks to craft a sound that manages to be at once familiar and definitively fresh. Honeyed harmonies buoy the classic high-lonesome croon of lead vocalist Lily Sexton, sailing above a whirling reel of steel string sonics and pop melody. Mamma’s Marmalade started in a UMass dorm room when Sexton (fiddle) and Mitch Bordage (mandolin) bonded over bluegrass. Tenacious flatpicker Sean Davis caught their attention at an open mic in 2016, and the band released their debut album Goodbye, Black Velvet, the following summer. In 2019 the band released their sophomore LP Rockabee Fields. Following Rockabee Fields they welcomed bassist Dan Bisson to their musical family. They’ve spent years honing improv skills, instrumental tone, harmony arranging, rhythm and energy to create a compelling live show. Regardless of their relative virtuosity at the beginning of their adventure, today Mamma’s Marmalade is composed of a group of artists that know how to work together as one. Their third studio album, Rabbit Analog, was released August 2021.

Cold Chocolate

Cold Chocolate is a genre-bending Americana band that fuses folk, funk, and bluegrass to create a unique sound all their own. Featuring Ethan Robbins on guitar, Ariel Bernstein on percussion, and backed by some of the root’s music scene’s finest players, this group from Boston is impressing audiences throughout New England and beyond. Punctuated by tight harmonies and skillful musicianship, and with a focus on songwriting, Cold Chocolate has quickly gained recognition for their original music and high-energy shows. The band has shared bills with Leftover Salmon and David Grisman, and regularly performs at venues and music festivals up and down the East Coast.

Buffalo Rose

After a release hiatus of nearly three years, Pittsburgh-based band Buffalo Rose has just released Solid Ground, a spunky and spirited new single. Buffalo Rose’s vibrant take on Americana combines pop, rock, soul, and musical theatre influences, featuring high-energy vocal harmonies and kaleidoscopic instrumental arrangements that will simultaneously pull on your heartstrings and pull you out onto the dance floor.

Solid Ground is vocalist Margot Jezerc’s songwriting debut, and features Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Tom Paxton as a co-writer. Produced by the band, and recorded and mixed by Tyler Thompson of Fruition, Solid Ground is a CCR-esque upbeat acoustic rock song which Jezerc delivers with sass and twang; a side-eye at life’s challenges, and a passionate cry for something to hold on to.

The band’s 2022 recent release Again, Again, Again brought forth a shimmering and sophisticated sound to their well crafted songs. A follow up to their 2022 EP Rabbit, a project created in collaboration with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tom Paxton, a frequent creative collaborator of the band. Their 2018 debut album, The Soil and the Seed, established them as a vocal, instrumental, and creative force. Since then, Buffalo Rose has released two EPs, 2019’s Big Stampede and 2020’s Borrowed and Blue, opened for the Wood Brothers, The Travelin’ McCourys, Tyler Childers, Infamous Stringdusters, and shared a festival stage with the legendary Sam Bush.

Buffalo Rose’s lineup of Lucy Clabby (vocals), Margot Jezerc (vocals), Bryce Rabideau (mandolin), Malcolm Inglis (dobro), Jason Rafalak (upright bass), and Shane McLaughlin (guitar, vocals) pushes itself and each other far beyond their perceived limits and blends their diverse and atypical approach to songwriting with the desire to see how unique a song can get and still feel like home. They use powerful vocal harmonies, strong playing, and an original vision to operate at every possible emotional level and put on dynamic live shows that are unforgettable experiences. They go from lively and moving to sad and sweet and back again, bringing the entire audience along.

This combination of artistry and enthusiasm makes Buffalo Rose one of the most vibrant and vital groups working today. Rather than play the folk music of the past, the band gleefully combines genres and ideas together to move acoustic music forward to a new, contemporary place without ever losing sight of its roots. Fans of Lake Street Dive, Nickel Creek, and Punch Brothers will find much to like in this crew.