Ruth Hill, songwriter, singer, and storyteller, is the most recent Grand Prize Winner of the Great American Song Contest! Her latest CD, Reunion of Broken Parts, was at the top of Folk DJ charts for the first 3 months of 2018.
Ruth has roots that run deep in the hills of New England. She’s inspired by the gritty joy of growing up as one of 10 kids in a working-class New Hampshire family, where she started singing with her older siblings at community events when she was six years old. Her wandering spirit has taken her from Antarctica, to Bhutan, to Alaska, with warmer stops in between. She writes about real people and the sweetness and sorrow of the world around her. Ruth accompanies herself expressively on guitar, and when she opens her heart and sings from a place of depth and compassion you are compelled to lean in closer.
Although Ruth started singing and playing music early in life, it took her until she was nearly a half century old before she finally found her songwriting voice, a few years later, she gave up her career as a river geologist and began performing and writing full time. “I don’t regret becoming a fulltime musician so late in my life,” Ruth says, “I’ve had a wonderful life full of rich adventures. But, I am thrilled to be here now! My recent successes have shown me that it’s never to late to learn to believe in yourself!”
Ruth is also the winner of the 2016 Maine Songwriter’s Association annual songwriting contest. Her first CD, The River Beneath Me, was released in 2011.
LEW, is a twenty two year old local singer-songwriter who translates something intangible, emotion, into an embrace that is rough but real. His voice is a melodic silky sound that hugs you like a friend, and takes you home.
In 2017, LEW released his debut album “Lullacry” at his sold-out album launch. “Lullacry” reached #1 on the Singapore iTunes Charts, #6 in China and #9 in Taiwan respectively, and has now amassed over 3.8 million plays on Spotify. The acoustic-pop artist is now based in Boston, pursuing a degree in songwriting at Berklee College of Music, and has more recently released two EPs in 2018, entitled “There’s Something In My Eye” & “ENFJ” respectively.
LEW participated and completed the Noise Singapore Music Mentorship Program, and was very honoured to receive the NOISE Award for 2015. He has performed for many festivals and on various stages including “SHINE Festival 2017/2018” , ‘MOSAIC Music Series‘ at The Esplanade Outdoor Theatres, “Bandwagon Nights’ at Hard Rock Cafe and was also part of the SCAPE Invasion Lineup for 2016.
LEW’s debut album ‘Lullacry’ was released in July 2017 and has already garnered over 2.1 million plays on Spotify. It also hit #1 on the Singapore iTunes Charts, #6 in China, #9 in Taiwan, #11 in Hong Kong and #12 in Indonesia respectively.
A broken-down van ranks pretty high on the list of worst-case scenarios for touring musicians. When it happened to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia band Mink’s Miracle Medicine, though, it ended up being an important turning point for how they approach making music.
Comprising Melissa Wright and Daniel Zezeski, Mink’s Miracle Medicine are preparing to release Pyramid Theories, a new album the two began writing after their van broke down in Pittsburgh and they found themselves stranded for several days. That unintentional break gave Wright and Zezeski time to contemplate their shared musical philosophy, and they ultimately realized that they needed to make music for themselves, rather than trying to appease anyone else. When they got home, Wright immediately began writing what would become Pyramid Theories.
Pyramid Theories follows the duo’s 2017 debut album House of Candles. House of Candles was released to critical acclaim, premiering alongside a rave review on Noisey, which called the LP “a solid record that really establishes Wright and Zezeski not just as talented and articulate, but smart enough to be willingly vulnerable in a genre that doesn’t tend to reward legitimate emotions.”
Ground-breaking, chart-topping, genre-bending, globetrotting, instantly enthralling… it’s little wonder that Talisk rank highly amongst the most in-demand folk-based groups to emerge from Scotland in the last decade and more.
Mohsen Amini (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018), Graeme Armstrong and Benedict Morris (BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2019) fuse concertina, guitar and fiddle to produce a truly innovative, multi-layered signature that has captivated audiences around the globe. At its core, three seemingly acoustic instruments – but in the hands of three master craftsmen; one unmistakable, bold sound and a captivating live show.
Alongside extensive touring, Talisk have stacked up major awards for their explosively energetic, artfully woven sound – including Folk Band of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, and the Belhaven Bursary for Innovation. Appearances at leading festivals across multiple continents have amassed a die-hard following – including closing out Saturday night’s main stage at the 2019 Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder Festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysian Borneo, WOMADs UK, Chile and Las Palmas, Edmonton Folk Festival, Milwaukee Irish Festival, three back-to-back years at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and six appearances at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.
Following their critically acclaimed debut, Abyss, Talisk’s sophomore album, Beyond, quickly amassed five star reviews and rose to No.1 in the iTunes world music charts upon its late 2018 release. With streaming figures into multiple millions, and new music on the horizon in 2022, audiences worldwide are hotly anticipating the latest chapter from a group lauded by leading world music magazine Songlines as: “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished.
Väsen-Duo, Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson have, after 37 years of interaction and touring, refined their sound and their stage presence to the extent that today they are unique in their kind. With their playful and perfect interplay, they seem to defy the laws of physics in what appears to be a telepathic communication.
The music is intense and full of humour. They create their very own musical language which in its appeal is as modern as it is ancient. With the foundation firmly rooted in the traditional music of Uppland, they have always looked curiously at new musical goals.
Olov & Micke have played together since 1983 when they met at Oktoberstämman in Uppsala and discovered that they had a large common repertoire and a similar way of playing. It turned out that Micke had learned from Ivar Tallroth in Uppsala and Olov had learned from Curt Tallroth in Harbo. They had been introduced to the rich Bohlin / Tallroth tradition by the two brothers. Olov & Micke started playing intensively together and released their first recording, “Det rister i Örat,” in 1985. They have played an incredible amount together over the years in Väsen. Now they go on adventures among old fine musicians, stories and trad tunes and at the same time they continue to break new ground. They perform on a variety of stringed instruments, including a silverbasharpa, oktavharpa, three-rowed Nyckelharpa, violoncello da spalla and a blue electric viola.
Having distilled his own signature sound of blues and folk for over 50 years, Chris Smither is truly an American original. A profound songwriter, Chris continues to draw deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers. From his early days as the New Orleans transplant in the Boston folk scene, through his wilderness years, to his reemergence in the 1990s as one of America’s most distinctive acoustic performers, Chris Smither continues to hone his distinctive sound. He has always traveled his own road and stayed true to his musical vision. He may be best known for writing “Love You Like A Man” which Bonnie Raitt and, more recently, jazz great Diana Krall have covered. His music has been covered by numerous artists and featured in soundtrack albums, independent film, television, and commercials. Reviewers continue to praise his dazzling guitar work, gravelly voice and songwriting. The New York Times: “With a weary, well-traveled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr. Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.”
More From the Levee (2020 Signature Sounds) is a masterwork and companion release to the celebrated double-CD 50-year career retrospective Still On the Levee that came out in 2014. It sports the unmistakable guitar sound Chris has made his own meshed with spare, brilliant songs, delivered in a bone-wise, hard-won voice.
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Smither is an American original, a product of the musical melting pot, and one of the absolute best singer-songwriters in the world.
ROLLING STONE: Bathed in the flickering glow of passing headlights and neon bar signs, Smither’s roots are as blue as they come. There is plenty of misty Louisiana and Lightnin’ Hopkins in Smither’s weathered singing and unhurried picking. So fine.
NEW YORK TIMES: With a weary, well-traveled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr. Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.
Moira Smiley is a Singer / Composer who creates and performs new work for voices. A musical polyglot, and vocal shape-shifter, her voice – and composing – are heard on feature films, BBC & PBS television programs, NPR, and on more than 60 albums.
She accompanies herself with banjo, accordion, piano and percussive movement, and when she’s not leading her own group, moira smiley & VOCO, Moira has toured with Indie artist tUnE-yArDs, Irish super-group, Solas, The Lomax Project and Billy Childs’ “Laura Nyro Re-Imagined”. She’s also toured with Paul Hillier’s Theater of Voices and KITKA. Recent solo performances include TED, Stravinsky’s ‘Les Noces’, the London Proms Festival, features on BBC Radio3, and ABC Australia’s Books & Artsprograms. Moira’s recordings feature spare, vocally driven collections of warped traditional songs, original polyphony and body percussion. She is a well-known choral composer (recent commissions included for Los Angeles Master Chorale) and arranger, with millions of singers around the world singing her works. In 2018, she released a solo album and choral songbook called ‘Unzip The Horizon’.
SVER play epic Nordic folk music with relentless energy and seductive spark taking you on a fantastic musical journey guaranteed to excite you. Ranging from the very dreamy to a swinging, pounding and sweaty madness – you are invited to the party, greeted by a welcoming primal force that pulls you into the dance. Since the group’s inception, SVER has gone from strength to strength, playing extensively throughout Europe and the US, gaining a reputation as one of the most acclaimed live acts in the Nordic folk scene.
SVER’s latest album “Reverie” (2018) – their fourth release – arrives as they celebrate 10 years together as a quintet. Listen to these musicians as they gel and swing together in a way that’s seldom encountered and you will understand why they have won a reputation as red hot performers whose shows are sizzling affairs. the long-awaited follow up to the critically acclaimed albums ”Fryd” (2015), “Fruen” (2010), and “SVER” (2007).
SVER has often been described as “sounding electric without electricity”, and their flexible musicianship has also made them an attractive backing band for some of Scandinavia’s leading singers in different genres. That has lead to playing on TV-shows, big festivals and positions in the radio charts with the music ranging from folk to reggae/dancehall and rap. Their imaginative soundscapes, grooves, and melodies will take you on a journey over the Norwegian fjords and mountains, into the lively pubs and back out into the deep forest of their musicality.
SVER consists of Olav Luksengård Mjelva (fiddle and Hardanger fiddle), Anders Hall (fiddle and viola), Leif Ingvar Ranøien (diatonic accordion), Adam Johansson (guitar) and Jens Linell (Drums and percussion). Olav and Leif Ingvar have played together since 2002. Vidar Berge joined the group in 2007 on guitar and together they released the self-titled album “SVER”. In the spring of 2008, Anders and Jens completed the band, and they released “Fruen” in 2010. Vidar quit the band later that year and Adam joined the group.
Singer-songwriter Roger Street Freidman is 54, a husband and a father of two, and about to release his masterwork, Shoot The Moon. It’s a full-emotional spectrum collection of vivacious and reflective vignettes from real life that recalls the pop-rock singer-songwriter tradition of Jackson Browne, Marc Cohn, Randy Newman, Colin Hay, Bruce Hornsby, and Mark Knopfler. Few artists make albums like this today. In an age of irony, few songwriters are this brave in their vulnerability, and possess Friedman’s gift for penning hook-laden, emotionally resonant, pop-rock.
“When my dad passed away in 2004 it really hit me that this was not a dress rehearsal. When you turn 50, you start to hear about or lose people that are your own age. It gives me the sense that I’ve got a lot of work to do,” shares the Sea Cliff, New York-based artist.
Friedman has garnered acclaim for his debut, The Waiting Sky. Champions for the album include No Depression, American Songwriter, Relix Magazine, MSN, The Alternate Route, Elmore Magazine and the New York Daily News. Friedman supported the effort with local gigs and regional touring, interspersed with opening slots for such venerated artists as Los Lobos and The Blind Boys of Alabama.
Over the past decade, the New Jersey born, now New Orleans (and seasonal Vermont) resident vocalist/writer/musician/producer has been bestowed with many awards and praises, including being named the Female Songwriter of the Year by the National Academy of Songwriters. Norah Jones and Bonnie Raitt have raved about her in interviews, and she’s performed on such high-profile radio shows as World Cafe, Mountain Stage and NPR’s Morning Edition and Tell Me More. She’s toured and opened for the likes of Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Mavis Staples, Rufus Wainwright, B.B. King, Dr. John, Richie Havens, Keren Ann, Chris Whitley, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
On her work and friendship with Robert Maché (Continental Drifters, Steve Wynn) Kurtz says, “I’ve loved Robert’s playing for such a long time, and we’ve been friends longer than we’ve been touring partners – he was one of the first musicians to befriend me in New Orleans. That we had such undeniable chemistry has been one of the greater recent gifts of my life, and I just wanted to document it somehow, and quite a few people in my life including my label have suggested a live record. I’d been hesitant, only because there’s only a few live records I listen to with the devotion I’d give a beloved studio record. It’s notoriously really difficult to capture the feeling of being there in the dark experiencing it. Then the challenge of it intrigued me.”
