If It's Too Loud...

Britt Daniel of Spoon Photo by Ken Sears As one of the announcers said, Saturday at the Green River Festival was a marathon. I got there early for Lily Seabird and stayed late for Spoon. It was over ten hours of diverse music, from Americana and folk to cumbia to indie rock to experimental music. It was absolutely exhausting, in the best possible way as I tried to take in everything possible. Here are my highlights from day two! Lily Seabird, Backporch Stage I've been trying to see Lily Seabird live for almost three years now, and the Green River Festival finally let it happen. My expectations were high, and she and her band blew them completely away. I had meant to watch half of her set and then head over to Dean's Beans Stage for the second half of The Animeros, but I was transfixed by Seabird's set. Live she seemed to lean into her more indie rock side with folk elements. It was kind of like if Nirvana or Sonic Youth decided to try out Americana. Lily Seabird set the bar...

I first discovered Folk Bitch Trio back in summer 2024 with their single "God's a Different Sword." The Naarm/Melbourne trio blew me away with their sound that's equally modern folk-pop and traditional folk, and I was dying to hear more from them. The true magic of Folk Bitch Trio are the harmonies between Grace Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, and Heide Peverelle. The three take turns on lead vocals, and every song on Now Would Be a Good Time  has a magical, mesmerizing quality. Each single blew me away more and more as they were released, and the album has been on heavy repeat once it was released in July. (And even heavier repeat since the CD has been in my car stereo since August.) Folk Bitch Trio are an artist that is on the cusp of breaking out huge, and a string of festival dates this summer (they're already announced for Green River Festival in June) could very well put them over the edge.  Songs of note: "God's a Different Sword," "Hotel TV...

It's just starting to get uncomfortably cold here in New England, so we're already starting to look forward to warm temperatures. Plus, warm temperatures means festival season, and Green River Festival has given us something to look forward to in June! Their 2026 edition will take place June 19-21 at Franklin County Fairgrounds with another fantastic line up. The headliners will get the most attention, with the neotraditional country of Charley Crockett, indie rock veterans Spoon, and experimental rockers Geese. We're thrilled for the undercard of this one, with many favorites playing like The Beths, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Wednesday, Lucius, The War and Treaty, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Folk Bitch Trio, Ratboys, Sunny War, Lily Seabird, and Tre Burt! Plus, there's plenty for us to discover in the next eight months as we get ready for the festival! Three day passes for the 2026 Green River Festival are on sale now. For tickets and more information, check out the ...

Folk Bitch Trio (Photo by Copper Taylor-Bogaars) I've been fairly obsessed with Folk Bitch Trio ever since I first heard "God's a Different Sword" back in August of last year. Their take on traditional folk meets pop folk is perfect for me, and I've been listening to the quite excellent Now Would Be a Good Time  on repeat since it was released last month. Since they're Australian, I assumed I might never get to see them, since there are a slew of Australian bands I adore that never make it to the US, especially now. I was thrilled to see that they would be joining Whitney on their tour, which included a stop at The Stone Church in Brattleboro, VT, a venue I've been wanting to check out for years. Making their first ever appearance in Brattleboro, Whitney packed The Stone Church with die hard and excited fans, many of which made the two hour drive down from Burlington, VT. They're a band I've been meaning to check out, and they certainly did not dis...

Photo by Nick Mckk Just in case you haven't jumped on the Folk Bitch Trio bandwagon yet, their latest single will force you on. "Hotel TV" is another gorgeous and lush folk song from the Melbourne/Naarm based group. What I think works for me is despite the song being so smooth and pretty, there is also the slightest hint of DIY edge on the track. It's this slight roughness that makes the song truly appealing. Most songs in the folk/indie rock spectrum of music tend to get bigger as they go on. They start small and intimate and slowly become epic as the song closes. "Hotel TV" does the opposite. It may not start as an epic, but it seems to get more and more intimate towards the end. Folk Bitch Trio are one of those bands that could end up being huge in the next year, and they certainly deserve to be. Jeanie Pilkington says her band's latest single is about  “... having a sex dream about somebody else while next to your partner, and your partner being a li...

Photo by Copper Taylor-Bogaars Melbourne/Naarm's Folk Bitch Trio continue releasing some of the most beautiful music of 2025. Their latest single, "Moth Song," focuses on their vocal harmonies with minimal instrumentation. Despite being a mostly vocal track, it doesn't feel very folky. It has roots in Americana, but the song also includes some R&B and indie pop styles, all while focusing on the vocals of Gracie Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, and Heide Peverelle. It also has a very lush sound while still coming across as DIY. "Moth Song" showcases the three vocalists with a perfectly minimal instrumentation to accentuate the entire thing. Folk Bitch Trio are continuing Australia's tradition of phenomenal and unique artists. Gracie Sinclair says the song is about  “being so spun out by everything that you feel like you’re delusional and hallucinating crazy things.” You can watch the video for "Moth Song" below. Now Would Be a Good Time is due o...

Photo by Bridgette Winten Hailing from Melbourne/Naarm, Folk Bitch Trio have a new single out that is everything we love about them. "Cathode Ray" is a gorgeous, harmony filled song with just enough dissonance to keep things interesting. The song is so close to being mainstream folk pop, but Folk Bitch Trio skew enough to the left so that it never quite makes it into the realm of pop. This is one of those folk-ish songs brimming with indie rock noise over its traditional folk elements. And those vocals and harmonies are just astounding, and are what keeps the song from falling apart. "Cathode Ray" is one of the most compelling songs we've heard in a while. Gracie Sinclair says of her band's latest single: “It expresses a feeling of being trapped in myself, and wanting to break out of that so violently that I’m literally talking about opening up a body viscerally. It’s about frustration, and knowing there’s no cheap thrill that’s going to fix that.” You can w...

Photo by Copper Taylor-Bogaars It's been almost a year since we brought you new music from Folk Bitch Trio, the Melbourne/Naarm trio that's more folk than their name would suggest. In fact, "The Actor" is a fairly straightforward folk-pop song. It's filled with gorgeous harmonies and dreamy strings throughout the song that are sure to suck in listeners with how lovely everything is. This is an endlessly compelling song that is going to appeal to fans of folk and folk-pop, but we're also pretty sure it's going to suck in fans beyond those genres. Folk Bitch Trio have an unexpected edge to their music, despite how pleasant and beautiful it is... but we probably should have guessed that based on their name... Folk Bitch Trio say that their latest single is about "...  falling hard and fast and breaking down quick too." You can watch the video for "The Actor" below. The single is out now on Jagjaguwar. For more on Folk Bitch Trio, check out...

Photo by Bridgette Winten Another day, another great artist from Naarm/Melbourne. Today's discovery is Folk Bitch Trio, who are much more folk than I would have expected. Their new single, "God's a Different Sword," is one of the more lovely somewhat mainstream versions of folk we've heard in a while, bordering very closely to folk-pop. It's a stunning song that is almost more captivating than you'd think possible. At the heart of the single are the harmonies between Gracie Sinclair (she/her), Jeanie Pilkington (she/her), and Heide Peverelle (they/them). Folk Bitch Trio just have a certain way of putting together a song that is completely theirs while also bordering right on the mainstream. They are one of the more quietly exciting discoveries of the year for us. Folk Bitch Trio say of their latest single: "'God’s A Different Sword’ speaks to relinquishing a pattern but indulging in the habit ‘just one more time.' The song was produced by us a...