Traditional ballads have been a source of inspiration for Lindsay Straw since her childhood in Montana, but she truly grew into the art when she became immersed in Boston’s Irish and folk music scenes.
There she began to tie together the threads of the traditions she was most passionate about: English, Scottish, Irish and American songcraft. While in college, she founded a young Celtic trad band, The Ivy Leaf, which she draws from to fill out the music on her new second album, The Fairest Flower of Womankind. In addition to her own sensitive, agile accompaniment on guitar and bouzouki, Straw is joined by members of The Ivy Leaf, Daniel Accardi (fiddle), Armand Aromin (fiddle), and Benedict Gagliardi (concertina, harmonica), plus renowned Maine guitarist Owen Marshall (The Press Gang). Throughout, Straw’s tender vocals and careful arrangements draw out the inner depths of these old songs, telling tales of women from beyond the ages. A ballad needs commitment to be told, a belief in the importance of its story.
Bright Young Folk said of her 2015 debut solo album, “My Mind From Love Being Free has finally announced Lindsay Straw onto the folk scene in magnificent style”. A generous grant from Club Passim’s Iguana Music Fund and a successful Kickstarter campaign allowed her to record and release her second album, The Fairest Flower of Womankind, in April 2017.
Culomba is a Western MA-based vocal ensemble specializing in close harmony singing from around the world. Culomba (“dove” in the Corsican language) draws from a deep well of repertoire, including American folk traditions, early European polyphony, music of Georgia, Corsica, the Balkans, Ukraine, Hungary, and original compositions. Culomba’s singers have toured internationally, and studied with masters of these traditions, and bringing their eclectic specialties to this unique ensemble. They have toured around New England, playing in venues such as Club Passim (MA), Jalopy (NY), Barbès (NY), and more.
Our group is powered by longtime friendships, roots in New England singing communities, and passion for close harmony in all its forms. We formed in 2018 after years of singing together, both professionally and around the kitchen table. Our approach to all the music we touch is rigorous and expansive: It involves regular contact with tradition-bearers, tuning chords slowly, listening to crackly old recordings, and lots of collaborative arranging. Our shows combine this attention to detail with a relaxed stage presence that draws all kinds of listeners in; to quote one of our fans, “The group never fails to locate the music in the tradition, in a way that involves anecdotes, jokes, a well-placed comparison; you name it..[I]t pulls you into participation.” We believe that harmony singing nourishes us and our audiences, fostering empathy, connection, and curiosity.
