You Probably Haven’t Heard

    • Anais Mitchell: Anaïs wrote the acclaimed musical Hadestown but I still have to explain to people who she is; an original genius that writes songs with incredible depth and poetry. She’s more than a songwriter, she’s a singer and a performer; her album of Child Ballads with Jefferson Hamer is a must listen.
    • Anna/Kate Band: Anna Gothard and Kate Foster played John Platt’s On Your Radar and instantly became one of my top discoveries. This is what I wrote about them with some slight editing: Kate stood on stage alone without an instrument. We wondered what was going on, then we heard Anna’s pure voice from the back of the room. She stood in the dark holding what looked like a cell-phone flashlight. Kate joined in, a song that was part duet and part intricate harmony as Anna took the stage. That’s exactly the kind of theatricality that Anna & Elizabeth might do. I loathe to say “theatricality” as it makes you think of showbiz and glitz. This is not Spinal Tap doing Stonehenge. There is artifice but artifice that comes across as purity. After that they held the audience in the palm of their hand…. Their songs range from the traditional, as the opening song, to songs that sound like upbeat pop songs, as long as you don’t listen to the deep lyrics. While their songs are choreographed performance pieces, their banter is genuine, spontaneous, and at times silly.
    • Barnaby Bright: I feel like I’ve always known Barnaby Bright, but it has only been eight years. They were the first band I discovered at my first NERFA, 2010. Though their music is not similar, I always think of them as the Kennedys the next generation. Becky and Nathan Bliss are a married couple. He is a brilliant instrumentalist, originally on saxophone but now guitar, and Becky sings like an angel, a spooky angel. Though they are upbeat and cheerful their music often, but not always, has a haunted feel. Becky plays guitar, keyboard, harmonium, and kalimba. The last two give the music a non-western tone. They are simultaneously accessible and exotic.
    • Belle Hallows: One of my great NERFA discoveries; a folk harmony trio based in Nashville. There are plenty of folk harmony trios but few that do it as well. They are one of those acts where it’s hard to pin down why I love them. It’s not what they do but that they do it so well.
    • Bobtown: Another NERFA discovery and one I’m not self-conscious about saying, “I’m with the band.” They are a Brooklyn based quintet with some of the greatest harmony arrangements you’ll ever hear. Few bands are as much fun.
    • Carolann Solebello: Carolann puts her soul into her music and she has a beautiful soul. Her songs are filled with beauty and wisdom.
    • Crys Matthews: One of my top discoveries of the year; she can do it all. She is best known for her songs of social activism, as a black lesbian married to a while woman in Virginia her life is a social statement to many. She never gets preachy or holier-than-thou and there is more to her music than politics. She wrote one of my favorite lyrics by anyone; “If I were half the person my dog is I’d be twice the human I am.” She’s delightful.
    • Cuddle Magic: What kind of music does Cuddle Magic make? The fact that it’s so hard to say is part of their greatness. There are elements of rock, pop, folk, and neuromusic.
    • Emerald Rae: I first saw Emerald in July but she has rapidly become part of my world. Since then she’s played Budgiedome and John Platt’s On Your Radar. She has not yet played any of the coffeehouses or house concerts hosted by my friends. I’m writing this in the hopes that won’t be true in a year. Her background is in Celtic Fiddling but moved into the singer/songwriter sphere. Nobody can sing and simultaneously fiddle as well as her. She can sing, she can play, she can entertain, she hits all the marks. Nobody wins me over by sending me an unsolicited recording, but she did. Emerald went from 0 to favorite in 5 seconds.
    • Emily Elbert: Emily played Budgiedome as an 18-year-old folky girl with an acoustic guitar. She was not just another sensitive chick with guitar. If she remained that way she’d still make this list. But she didn’t, she became a jazz dynamo on electric guitar. In a perfect world she’d have the money to tour with a band. I’m lucky, she can usually find a band in New York so can play the songs as she hears them in her head. It’s jazz, with rock energy, and folk lyrics.
    • Eric Lee: Like many people I discovered Eric as the brilliant violinist in the Strangelings. He is a part of the Falcon Ridge House band. He’s a master of many styles and can pick up a fiddle and join with anyone. He could have a great career as a sideman, but wanted more. Living in the folk milieu, surrounded by people like the Kennedys and Tracy Grammer he wanted to write. He has always written but now it’s coming to the fore. It’s difficult to sing and play violin at the same time, at least if you’re not Emerald Rae, and picked up the guitar. He became a virtuoso on six strings in addition to four. And he can write. Not just one style, but many, he can be poetic like Dave Carter, folk anthemic like Pete Seeger, and quirky weird like, well, Eric Lee. In the last year he’s taken it to a new level. If you have not seen him then, then you don’t know what he has to offer.
    • Harpeth Rising: Put a gun to my head and make me choose a favorite band and I might say Harpeth Rising. There’s certainly no one I like more. They are a chamber folk trio, banjo, violin, and cello. If Mozart were to form an Americana inspired band it might come out similar to Harpeth rising. You’d think having three conservatory trained musicians would be enough, but there’s more. They are amazing singers with and write songs with deep lyrics. They have a sense of humor, they have a musical sense of humor. Not many bands can make you smile on an instrumental. They are delightful people. To provide some balance I’ll point out that they have a banjo. That’s for the same reason weavers put an imperfection in every Persian rug, because only Allah is perfect.
    • Hawktail: Hawktail is a a chamber folk string band. They play traditional sounding music with the sophistication and skills of classically trained musicians. I have yet to see them as a quartet, but their trio shows as Haas Kowert Tice are among the best I’ve ever heard by anyone. Like Mozart they play music that has always existed.
    • Heather Pierson: Where had Heather been hiding all my life? Good thing she did a gig with Carolann Solebello and I discovered her glory. She’s a wide-ranging genre defying artist. She plays banjo and guitar, and solo or with a trio, but I always think of her home as at the piano, and of course the queen of instruments, the melodica. She can go trad, she can go jazz, and she can go blues. She can sound like someone from the Appalachians, which she technically is, the part in New Hampshire, or Nawlins. She has both dynamism and musicianship. You’ll love her.
    • Her Crooked Heart: The artist formerly known as Rachel Ries either solo or backed by whoever she is touring with. She writes complex songs that come directly from her heart and mind. There are endless layers of depth.
    • Jean Rohe: I have written as much about Jean over the last 8 years as I have of anyone. When I first heard her, I compared her with Anaïs Mitchell, she has that depth. She performs in many configurations; the large End of the World Show band, as a duo with Liam Robinson, and solo. I try and never miss any of them.
    • Jess Klein: I’ve known Jess the longest of anyone on this list. Twenty years ago I saw her open for Moxy Früvous. She didn’t win me over. By the time I saw her at SMAF she did. The essence of what makes her great is her passion. She believes in what she’s singing and makes you feel what she feels. When you see Jess prepare to feel the need to smoke a cigarette or march with pitchforks and torches; maybe just cry and think about your grandmother.
    • Joshua Garcia: If you follow the link you’ll find that Joshua aka Jr doesn’t have a webpage. He doesn’t have an album. What he has in an outsized talent. He’s not a good, but a great songwriter. His songs are good enough that he could get by with merely functional guitar playing but it’s not. It’s excellent. And the man can sing. He might write like Dylan but his voice is beautiful, and like Dylan the singing comes from the heart. When he makes that album. Watch out. It’s going to make waves.
    • Kaia Kater: Kaia is another artist that transformed. I met her as a 21-year-old old-type banjo player that did seated foot percussion. She’s a Canadian that went to West Virginia to study the music. Now she sings soulful songs that you might expect from Nina Simone. She still usually plays banjo and can still play banjo and in a longer set than I recently saw might bring back the old-time. She blew me away on the old-time and blows me away on the ballads. Is there anything she can’t do? What’s next opera? Rock? Whatever she chooses she can do it.
    • Kristin Andreassen: Kristin started in music as a dancer, a clogger. Her background is trad. The songs she writes are nothing like trad; they are nothing like anyone else writes. They are awash in a sea of metaphor with multiple layers. She also wrote a song called Thirteen Wolverines which is one of the greatest silly songs. She still clogs at shows. When she lived in New York I would see her at least half a dozen times a year, sometimes twice that.
    • Mari Black: Mari (rhymes with sorry) is another chamber folk goddess. She’s a Scottish fiddling champion. She won scotch, she doesn’t drink. She decided she loved Klezmer and added that to her repertoire. There’s Appalachian music. What holds them all together is that it’s all music you can dance to. She’s a virtuoso, her band is made up of virtuosi. She silly. She does trick fiddling, behind her back, through her legs, etc.. There are so many ways she makes you feel good.
    • Mediaeval Baebes: They are just what their name indicates, women that sing medieval music. They all sing. Some play violin, viola, hurdy gurdy, or recorder. One, step dances. They are accompanied by instrumentalist that includes a lutist. In between songs the can be silly. They can be silly during some of the songs. They can all bring you to the medieval view of heaven
    • Moira Smiley : Moira is one of my top musical discoveries of the year. She’s a singer and composer that surrounds herself with great musicians. Her genre is whatever she wants it to be. I’ve seen her only once and her first song was in Bulgarian. She is not bound by the bonds of expectations. There are ways she reminds me of Jocie Adams of Arc Iris, in others of Happy Rhodes. She follows her vision wherever it takes her. She can sing, write, and arrange with genius. That’s all you can want of a musician.
    • Oliver Esposito: I’ve known Oliver for six years but their music has undergone such a transformation that they count as a new discovery. Oliver has gone from being virtuoso mandolin player to be a brilliant and unique songwriter. How did an 18-year-old acquire such depth? The songs are deeply personal without being self-involved. One mark of great songwriting is making the personal, universal. Your issues are not the same as B’s but you’ll recognize the feelings they generate. The musical virtuosity did not disappear, the playing is often not as showy, so as to put the lyrics in the foreground, but the quality is still exceptional. Oliver’s voice is beautiful but more importantly the singing comes straight from the soul.
    • Ryanhood: I have a feeling of proprietorship with Ryanhood. Nobody recommended them to me and I didn’t see them on a bill with anyone else. I ate dinner with them at NERFA and found their conversation interesting enough to merit checking out their music. They more than lived up to my expectations. They have something to say and say it well. What makes them great? Their singing? Their harmonies? Instrumental virtuosity? Their banter? The answer is yes. They bring it all to the table. They are one of the easiest bands to recommend. What makes them great has universal appeal.
    • Sam Baker: Sam is the odd man out on this list. He’s a storyteller with a guitar. His songs are short stories. He intersperses true stories of his own fascinating life. There aren’t many people that can talk about being the caught in a terrorist bombing and surviving by a combination of luck and heroic efforts by others and not have that be the entire act. His personal story infuses his songs, they are not his songs. The show is either himself on guitar or joined by Carrie Elkin on guitar and voice. That’s all he needs to earn your total attention.
    • Steph Jenkins: I met Steph as a member of the old-time band, The Calamity Janes. She’s someone that I would often see as part of the Brooklyn music scene, as often in the audience as on the stage. She too got the songwriting bug and made an EP, End to End. It was brilliant. She’s another polymath, she can play, sing, write, and in real life is a documentary producer who works with Ken Burns? How do I not hate her? Oh right, she’s also a delightful person.
    • Sunny War: I just discovered Sunny at the Hudson West Folk Festival the weekend before last. She was so good I went to see her the next day. She is performing just accompanied by her guitar but I would not be surprised to find her with a band next tour. She’s a brilliant and self-taught guitarist. She developed her own techniques that give her a unique sound. I suspect that many people were so taken by her singing that they did not notice her instrumental virtuosity. She sings with total sincerity. She made my never miss list.
    • TAARKA: TAARKA is the married duo of Enion and David Pelter-Tiller. I’d like to think that if you saw TAARKA without hearing about them you’d think, “Gordon would love them.” They are a band designed with me in mind. They don’t do just one thing, They do progressive folk, gypsy jazz, string band, and whatever else they want to. The are bursting with creativity. You know why you go to see TAARKA as you won’t hear what they play anywhere else. They are artists, not craftsmen. They have a connection with another artist on the list, Enion taught B fiddle when B was 11.
    • The Sea the Sea: I discovered Chuck and Mira before they were The Sea the Sea. They came to the Budgiedome for the open song circle and won me over instantly. I have never heard voices blend more exquisitely, but a beautiful sound won’t hold my interest long. They could have a career singing stacked harmony, that would enthrall most people. Fortunately for me it would bore them. They choreograph their voices in an intricate dance. Even that isn’t enough. They write original songs that not only sound beautiful but have great and meaningful lyrics.