Viv & Riley - "Imaginary People"

For their latest single, folk duo Viv & Riley (aka Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno) go a little lighter than their previous single about the climate apocalypse. "Imaginary People" is the kind of light and cheery traditional folk meets pop that we came to love about Viv & Riley. It's an uptempo and dreamy folk song that really gives the pair a chance to shine, both musically and lyrically. Leva's vocals instantly grab your attention, and the song is of the impossible to resist variety. It seems like we're in a resurgence of great folk duos lately, and Viv & Riley are one of the finest ones.

Songwriter Vivian Leva says of the new single:

"‘Imaginary People’ is about evaluating and juggling all of the different versions of myself. Was I adventurous and a little reckless? Or was I grounded and measured? Am I kind to myself or too judgemental?"

You can listen to "Imaginary People" below. Imaginary People, the album, is due out September 15 on Free Dirt Records. For more on Viv & Riley, check out the artist's website.

Viv & Riley - "Is It All Over"

Viv & Riley, the duo of Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, make some of the prettiest and most endearing modern day traditional folk pop out there. Their latest single, "Is It All Over," gets much more serious than what we'd expect from the North Carolina group. The song is about the climate apocalypse and billionaires racing into space. The song is more restrained and dour than we're used to from from Viv & Riley. It's still beautiful, but much more serious and somber. It's also interesting that the climate crisis is more of a subject for traditional and folk artists than punk rockers.

You can watch the video for "Is It All Over" below. Imaginary People is due out September 15 on Free Dirt Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Viv & Riley, check out the artist's website.

Viv & Riley - "Kygers Hill"

We adored Viv & Riley's (aka Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno) 2021 self-titled album. It's blend of classic folk and modern folk delivered with gorgeous harmonies hits us right in our sweet spot, so we're thrilled to bring you a new single from the duo. "Kygers Hill" doesn't reinvent their sound. This is vintage folk meets modern pop folk, but it does show off some growth in Viv & Riley. The new song has more than a little sun-drenched California AM radio vibes, which somehow make their music even more lovely than their previous album. 

You can watch the video for "Kygers Hill" below. Imaginary People is due out September 15 on Free Dirt Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Viv & Riley, check out the artist's website.

Cinder Well - "A Scorched Land"

The previous singles from Cinder Well's upcoming album have moved slightly away from the doom folk of 2020's No Summer, Amelia Baker's solo project is right back there with her latest. "A Scorched Land" is a stark, more traditional folk song written from the perspective of a blackbird watching the massive changes going on in our world currently. It's a bleak song, but it kind of has to be given the subject matter. However, part of Baker's talent is taking a song and subject matter that is horrifically bleak and making it an engaging listen. "A Scorched Land" isn't the song you're going to put on for a sing-a-long during a family road trip this summer, but it's the kind of art you're going to go back to repeatedly.

You can watch the video for "A Scorched Earth" below. Cadence is due out April 21 on Free Dirt Records, which can be pre-ordered here. For more on Cinder Well, check out the artist's website.

Cinder Well - "Overgrown"

Cinder Well's latest single continues her move away from the doom folk she created while living in Ireland and into a more positive version now that she's back in her native Central California. Of course, positivity is relative, and "Overgrown" is hardly a sunny, Californian folk song. It's a lovely folk song that is a little sad, but hopeful. Plus, Amelia Baker's vocals are just stunning in this one. She has one of those timeless vocals that could have been at home coming out of a tube radio in the 1940's or a portable record player in the 1970's. On "Overgrown," Baker sounds modern while keeping a timeless quality.

You can listen to "Overgrown" below. Cadence is due out April 21 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Cinder Well, check out the artist's website.

Cinder Well - "Two Heads, One Mare"

We absolutely loved Cinder Well's 2020 almost prophetically named album, No Summer. During the pandemic, Amelia Baker left her adopted Ireland and moved back home to California. She took up her childhood hobby of surfing, and that sound can be heard on her new single. "Two Heads, One Mare" still has the trademark doom folk that we loved on Baker's previous album. The song is dark and moody, but there is just the slightest hint of California sunshine and optimism creeping through. The vibe of the song perfectly captures how some of us (or maybe just me) is feeling about the ongoing pandemic lately. Still dark, but just starting to feel the slightest ray of hope.

You can watch the video for "Two Heads, One Mare" below. Cadence is due out April 21 on Free Dirt Records. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Cinder Well, check out the artist's website.

Mighty Poplar - "Up On the Divide"

Mighty Poplar are a new roots supergroup that features Andrew Marlin from Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge from Punch Brothers, Greg Garrison from Leftover Salmon, and Alex Hargreaves from Billy Strings. The five musicians formed the new band out of a love of improvisation through bluegrass. Their debut single, "Up On the Divide," was written by cowboy poet and songwriter Martha Scanlan. This is pure roots music done to perfection, but that's hardly a surprise considering the pedigree of the musicians involved. You know how some songs just feel like friends hanging out and playing music instead of a more formal arrangement? "Up On the Divide" has that sound, but done with world class musicians. Something tells me we'll be following Mighty Poplar very closely around here.

You can watch the video for "Up On the Divide" below. Mighty Poplar's debut album is due out March 31 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Mighty Poplar, check out the band's website.

Willi Carlisle - "Life on the Fence"

Photo via Facebook

"Queer cowboy poet, populist folk singer, and viral video star" Willi Carlisle has released a new single. "Life on the Fence" is "... about the struggles of being queer in a world that's terrified of your identity." It's a classic cowboy country ballad that could have come out anytime in the past fifty or so years, except for the subject matter. It's a killer heartfelt country song, the kind people say don't get made any more. "Life on the Fence" is the perfect level of twang, and anyone who truly loves country or folk won't be able to resist this one.

You can listen to "Life on the Fence" below. Peculiar, Missouri is due out July 15 on Free Dirt Records. The album can be pre-saved/pre-ordered here. For more on Willi Carlisle, check out the artist's website.

Mama's Broke - "How it Ends"

Mama's Broke, the post-folk Canadian duo of Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler, have just released a break up song that might be their most accessible yet. While the previous singles from their upcoming album have a certain darkness or a sense of foreboding, "How it Ends" sounds relatively upbeat. Considering this is a song about how you never think you'll find someone as good as your ex after a break up, that's quite a feat. This is a traditional folk song with some slightly modern folk harmonies. As much heartbreak as their is in "How it Ends," there is also the warmth of remembering a recent relationship.

You can listen to "How it Ends" below. Narrow Line is due out May 13 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Mama's Broke, check out the artist's website.

Mama's Broke - "Narrow Line"

Canadian duo Mama's Broke are masters of crafting haunting traditional folk songs with a modern feel. Their latest is "Narrow Line," which is a laid back song with a certain intensity that can't help but draw you in. The song has a somewhat positive feel with a disquieting sense of foreboding that keeps peeking out. As beautiful as the song is, it's also going to make you feel a little anxious. Getting back to the haunting quality, it's like staying in a gorgeous old house and enjoying yourself, except you can't quite tell if you're imagining seeing something move in that corner. That's just the vibe of Mama's Broke. As gorgeous as the music may be, there is a darker meaning underneath the music.

You can watch the video for "Narrow Line" below. Narrow Line is due out May 13 on Free Dirt Records and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Mama's Broke, check out the artist's website.

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves - "I Would Not Live Always"

Photo by Tasha Miller

As you can most likely tell by the name, the latest from Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves isn't one of those uplifting, joyous folk songs. "I Would Not Live Always" is a dark song. Despite utilizing only their vocals, banjo, and fiddle, the song has a droning quality more associated with indie rock or shoegaze while still sounding solidly like a traditional folk song. This gives the song an ominous edge throughout. While not a cheery listen, "I Would Not Live Always" is a powerful one. 

In a press release, Tatiana Hargreaves explains the origins of the new song, which came from a poem by William Augustus Muhlenberg:

“We originally wanted to name the album 'I would not live always' because it captures the dark apocalyptic vibe. The lyrics feel very surreal and have some almost sci-fi like imagery: 'and see soft unfolding those portals of gold, all around us arrayed in their beauty behold'. We picked and chose our own lyrics from the poem to kind of create our own story line. I feel like it is about our own smallness in this world —again, in reference to climate apocalypse. Death is near, I would not live always…”

You can watch the video for "I Would Not Live Always" below. Hurricane Clarice is due out March 25 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, check out the duo's website.

Mama's Broke - "Just Pick One"

Canadian duo Mama's Broke, consisting of Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler, met on the road on a drive from Montreal to Nova Scotia. The pair formed the band a week later and started touring almost non-stop. The pandemic obviously put a stop to that, but allowed for them to hunker down and write their new album between remote cabins and apartments in Montreal. Their latest single, "Just Pick One," was written in Amy's uninsulated cabin, and somehow sounds like it was. The song is a haunting traditional folk song with a little modern folk thrown in. Think if a band like First Aid Kit was from Appalachia instead of Sweden. The song just sounds icy, as it was written in a cabin in eastern Canada. It's a beautiful folk song, although there is something a little isolating and off-putting about it, which I mean as a compliment.

You can listen to "Just Pick One" below. Narrow Line is due out May 13 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Mama's Broke, check out the artist's website.

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves - "Hurricane Clarice / Brushy Fork of John's Creek"

There aren't many artists that can captivate with just a banjo and fiddle the way that Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves can. The duo's latest single is just that. It's an instrumental medley entitled "Hurricane Clarice / Brushy Fork of John's Creek" that has the pair playing a banjo and a fiddle for six minutes and it's impossibly captivating. Hargreaves and de Groot are masters at playing traditional roots/Americana, and it doesn't get any better than "Hurricane Clarice / Brushy Fork of John's Creek." For any fans of folk or bluegrass, this is an absolute must listen.

Tatiana Hargreaves says of the new song:

”Inspired by the minimalist and abstract writing of Clarice Lispector, the track encompasses many of the themes we explored throughout the album. This track, and the album as a whole, looks inward at our own family histories and lineages, connecting Lispector’s Eastern European family history to both of our own. ‘Hurricane Clarice’ also refers to increasing extreme weather incidents caused by climate change. We recorded the album in Portland, Oregon during an apocalyptic heat wave and it was our third attempt over the last two years to make it happen. So there was also an underlying feeling throughout the album process of the climate crisis and all the upheaval of 2020 and 2021. ‘Hurricane Clarice’ captures our love for instrumental banjo-fiddle music, combining the original title track with our interpretation of John Morgan Salyer’s version of the traditional fiddle tune 'Brushy Fork of John’s Creek.' We love playing music together in the duo format and find that there is so much room for flexibility and spontaneous musical reactivity.”

You can watch the video for "Hurricane Clarice / Brushy Fork of John's Creek" below. Hurricane Clarice is due out March 25 on Free Dirt Records, and can be pre-ordered over at Bandcamp. For more on Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, check out the artists' website.

Jake Blount - "The Man Was Burning"

When I saw Jake Blount over the weekend, he played a bluegrass version of "The Man Was Burning," which he discovered in the Smithsonian Folkways archives. The song was sung by Joe Lee, a black prisoner in Virginia, in 1936. Blount promised he was releasing a rock and roll version of the single this week, and it is now out! "The Man Was Burning" isn't a pure rock and roll song, but it's the most rock and roll thing I've heard from Blount so far. There's a little to much jazz in the song to be purely rock and roll, but the song also combines elements of soul and blues which is pretty damn rock. This is an amazing reworking of a traditional spiritual (you can hear the original here), and the fact that I've heard versions in two completely different genres both by Jake Blount this week just showcases Blount's immense talents!

In a press release Jake Blount says of his new single:

“It’s a spiritual that echoes with burning hellfire. All of these supernatural, plagues of Egypt-type things are happening to this person ostensibly as punishment for his gambling. I don’t really mind people gambling, so I changed the verses to be about somebody who’s hoarding money and thinking too much of what it can do for him and is punished. This is kind of my 'Eat the Rich' moment."

You can listen to Jake Blount's rock and roll version of "The Man Was Burning" below. The song is available as a single via Free Dirt Records. For more on Jake Blount, check out the artist's website.

Cinder Well x Jim Ghedi - "I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble"

We discovered Cinder Well back in 2020, but this is our first time hearing Jim Ghedi. The duo's new singe, "I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble" certainly does not sound like anything recorded in California. Amelia Baker (aka Cinder Well) first discovered the song in the Irish Traditional Music Archives. It's from the point of view of a young man leaving Ireland for America. Baker takes the lead on the song, which they turn into an almost entirely a capella song, except for some fiddle that slowly comes in and hides far in the background about halfway through. Haunting barely describes this song. The song is a lush, droning experience to listen to, despite how stark it is. 

You can listen to "I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble" below. The song is available as a single with the B-side of "Pulling Bracken" via Free Dirt Records, and can be found over at Bandcamp. For more on Cinder Well x Jim Ghedi, check out Cinder Well's website.

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves - "The Banks of the Miramichi"

The upcoming collaborative album from Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves was recorded in one of the most unique ways I've heard. Instead of recording each song over and over until it was done "correctly," the duo comprised hour long sets and played those over the span of four days. They never listened back to any of the recordings until they were done. The first song released from these recordings, "The Banks of the Miramichi," has a sense of immediacy to it that you don't hear these days, especially in folk. It's a simple song that fits right into the world of folk, but it sounds completely modern while still being completely traditional. It also has such a grounded feel to it by not being perfect. In today's world of digital recordings where an artist can just delete a take and start over again endlessly, hearing a song like "The Banks of the Miramichi" that isn't striving for perfection is an entirely fresh sound. Keeping folk this fresh while still being traditional is a unique feat.

You can listen to "The Banks of the Miramichi" below. Hurricane Clarice is due out March 25 on Free Dirt Records and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. For more on Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, check out the artists' website.

JP Harris - "Take Off Your Tinfoil Hat"

There's a wonderfully long history of political folk songs that skew more humorously than angry. Joining this pedigree is the latest from JP Harris. "Take Off Your Tinfoil Hat" is a ramblin', upbeat folk/country song about all of the right wing QAnon conspiracies that seem to be destined to never die. Harris just takes all of these theories into an ongoing string with one after another until the chorus (which also includes some), and then starts up with some more. I'm pretty sure some of these are fake... but who even knows any more. "Take Off Your Tinfoil Hat" is a fantastic tongue in cheek song that somehow finds the humor in a subject matter we're all pretty sick of by now.

JP Harris says of his new song:

"It seems as we become ever more connected, with an infinite wormhole of information at our fingertips, that as a species we are rapidly losing our ability to discern truth from fiction, our most valuable learned skill of critical thinking, at what could almost be called the genetic level. Our technology is evolving faster than we are.

"It is sad to say that the precedent to believe the most outlandish conspiracies has been long established; MK ULTRA, the Tuskegee Experiments, the CIA’s counterintelligence program, and countless other declassified examples of shadowy governmental behavior give people the thread of doubt they need to latch onto something they can fight for.

"And with very few legal consequences enforced or even in place by the Federal Communications Commission for spreading false information, the Kremlin-style 'Fake News' label and shock-jock reporting have emerged as the only allegedly-trustworthy reporting for those right of center, steering an enormous headcount of Americans away from balanced and factual reporting. Can’t we just change the slogan to 'Make Conspiracies Believable Again'?!”

You can listen to "Take Off Your Tinfoil Hat" below. The song is available now via Free Dirt Records here. For more on JP Harris, check out his website.

Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno - "Love and Chains"

Last month I was smitten with the latest single from Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, and luckily they Portland, OR duo is back with another song. "Love and Chains" runs a little more to the folk pop side of things than "Will You" did, but when a song is this perfectly done, it's impossible to complain. "Love and Chains" is a gorgeous folk/pop duet between Leva and Calcagno. It's a quiet, contemplative folk song that's going to make you long for the days of summer. It personally has me fantasizing about seeing these two at some outdoor venue just as the sun starts setting, so let's all hope that can be possible this year.

You can watch the video for "Love and Chains" below. The self-titled album from Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno is due out March 12 on Free Dirt Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno, check out their website.

Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno - "Will You"

Photo by Brendon Burton

The new song from Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno isn't reinventing the folk genre. "Will You" is a straightforward, modern folk song that keeps one foot in traditional folk. You've heard songs like "Will You" before, and you will again. But you might not hear one done quite this well for a long, long time. Leva and Calcagno have put together an absolutely perfect folk song. This is a song that is going to be beloved by both folk purists and fans of pop folk. I can't really explain what works so well with this pairing of artists. Sometimes musicians just click, and the result it pure magic. That's the case with "Will You."

You can watch the live performance video of "Will You" below. The self-titled album from Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno is due out on March 12 via Free Dirt Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno, check out their website.

Cinder Well - "Wandering Boy"

Amelia Baker (formerly of Blackbird Raum and Lankum) moved from Los Angeles to Ireland to study traditional Irish music. Cinder Well is the name she's recording that under, and we can hear another song from that project. "Wandering Boy" is haunting in the way that only Celtic music can be. This may be an old song, but Cinder Well makes it her own. It's dark, and sparse, and lonely. Besides Baker's vocals propelling the entire song, there's little more than the hum of a violin or accordion throughout. The music almost feels like it's dragging Baker in, and her voice is the only thing pushing her forward.

You can listen to "Wandering Boy" below. No Summer, the upcoming album from Cinder Well, will be out July 24 on Free Dirt Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Cinder Well, check out the artist's website.