Folk Alley Sessions

Here's a simple truth: Change isn't always easy and change isn't always something we want. And here's another simple truth: Change is unavoidable. Courtney Hartman sensed big changes were fast approaching in her life and, in order to try to be in the best space possible to accept them, she decided to do something a little different. She decided...to walk.In order to embrace change and in order to embrace her own voice as a songwriter, Hartman knew she needed to get away from a lot of the noise in her life. And so she set off on a truly epic, hundreds-of-miles-long trek, accompanied only by the lightest guitar she could find.It was over the course of that journey that she become very aware of the rhythm, the feel, and the sound of walking: "The rhythm of walking allows melodies to come in a very different way than sitting still," she says. Hartman shares more insights into her epic journey - which turned into a new album, Ready Reckoner - during an exclusive Folk Alley Session recorded at Beehive Productions s

(this Sessions originally posted December 20, 2018)“At this point, we are wide open, I think.” That’s how the band Mipso talks about the evolution of their sound. Starting as a tried-and-true string band at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill several years ago, the band, earlier this year, released their fourth album, Edges Run. And it was with this album that they decided they no longer wanted to limit themselves to, as they say, “just strings.” Edges Run is a record that lets this group of talented young musicians experiment and push the boundaries of their sound. And, during the exclusive session they did for Folk Alley at Beehive Productions Studios in Saranac Lake, New York, this group eloquently talks about how and why they decided to push those musical boundaries in the first place.

(Session originally published in 2017) As Woody Guthrie's granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie's lineage is undeniable. But if you close your eyes and forget that her last name is synonymous with the river-legacy of a widening current of American folk music, you'd still be drawn to the clarity and soul behind her voice. There is a gentle urgency to her interpretations of the songs she sings and the classic music of her heritage.Over the last two decades on the road and in the studio, she and her husband Johnny Irion have created a signature pop-fused folk-rock sound that is appealing and engaging. Now, she's out solo for the first time, giving full and glorious attention to the folk music that is her birthright, and traveling with the Hoping Machine, singing the songs that have empowered people during trying times. Sarah Lee sat down with Folk Alley at the 2017 30A Songwriters Festival to play some songs and talk about this exciting new turn in her life.

When you combine the transcendent poetry of Bob Dylan with the gritty, real-world rock-n-roll storytelling that Bruce Springsteen made so famous, and then add a dash of the political activism embodied by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, you’ll have Irish singer-songwriter Pat Byrne. Known for creating a rootsy, Americana sound that has a unique Irish twist, Byrne now lives part-time in the US (he calls Austin, Texas home) and his newest recording, Rituals, reflects his multiple geographical identities. Recorded half in Austin and half in Dublin, Rituals is filled to the brim with the kind of storytelling that everyone can identify with, no matter where you live. In January of 2019, Folk Alley caught up with Pat Byrne at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida for this exclusive session.

(Originally published June 2018) The rain was coming down hard one day in April in Upper Jay, New York. And that’s the day Ana Egge, along with Alec Spiegelman (keyboards, bass clarinet) and Dave Cole (drums) showed up at the pop-up studio our friends at Beehive Productions Studio set up at The Recovery Lounge. Egge, whose husky voice floats between a true-blue alto and the lowest possible soprano, was there to share some thoughts about her new album, White Tiger. She also shared some songs from it: the title track, a song she says she loves to sing; “Girls, Girls, Girls,” which is all about being young and single and free to live your life as you see fit, and the apocalyptic love song she wrote with her partner of 15 years in mind, “Be With You.”

Musician Courtney Marie Andrews has lived, she says, at least 40 lives. And one thing she’s learned over the course of those 40 lives? How to distill the experiences into compelling stories about equally as compelling characters. The Phoenix, Arizona native has been singing on stages since she was a teenager – really, not THAT long ago, given that she isn’t 30 yet – and to say that her career has been “interesting” isn’t quite enough. She was a back-up singer and keyboardist with Jimmy Eat World for a while, electric guitarist and back-up singer for a few other bands and musicians, a bartender, a busker in cafes and on street corners – the list goes on. One thing that has remained consistent in her career, though, is her commitment to excellence and quality when it comes to recording music. Andrews is definitely not in this musical game just to make and sell records as fast as she can. Instead, she’s a craftswoman, taking her time and tweaking the music she makes until it’s just right. During an exclusive s

Songs are personal, and important, parts of our souls, of our SELVES. That’s how Caroline Spence feels…and the songs she’s written over the last 5 years are hugely important to her…and, she hopes…to YOU. Spence joined us and our friends from Beehive Productions in January at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida share some thoughts about her songwriting process…and also to share some new music from her new recording, her first on Rounder Records, called Mint Condition.

Nashville-based musician Mary Bragg describes herself as “annoyingly optimistic.” Now, everyone’s entitled to his or her own opinion, of course, but truthfully, there’s nothing annoying about the intimate truths and experiences she shares in her music. And, not all of those truths and experiences are optimistic, either. Indeed, each of the songs on Bragg’s 2019 release Violets as Camouflage had some element of masking: either fooling someone or being fooled yourself. Bragg says she wanted to call attention to that theme – the theme that something important needs to be revealed – in each track on the album. It’s the first record she has produced entirely by herself and while the process was time-consuming, demanding, and soul-searching, she says Violets as Camouflage is the album she’s most proud of to date. Mary Bragg joined Folk Alley for a conversation and performance in our pop-up beach house studio at the 2019 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

Isn’t it funny how life never seems to turn out quite the way you expect? Steve Poltz is a Canadian native, one who lived in San Diego for years and years. He’s had success in the past as a singer’s songwriter, penning hits for other musicians, including, most famously, Jewel. One thing he’d never do, he vowed, was move to Nashville, Tennessee. And yet…that’s exactly what he did, just over a year ago now. He couldn’t resist the pull of this magical, musical town, he says, and it turned out to be a good move. Songs are everywhere, he says, just floating in the air and waiting for you to reach out and grab them. One of those guys who can talk for hours about anything and everything, Poltz shared the stories behind some of the songs on his newest recording, Shine On, during an exclusive session we recorded at the 2019 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

There are hundreds and thousands of great musicians out there today, making music, giving concerts, tuning guitars and writing the lyrical poetry that becomes memorable songs. You have to wonder: how do they ever even get started with a life in music? Tennessee native Amythyst Kiah credits her parents for getting her to fall in love with music when she was just a kid. She’s got a powerhouse of a voice, guitar and banjo chops to put anyone to shame…and a unique musical worldview, informed by a love of classic rock and MTV. After getting her first instrument at 13, Kiah spent the next decade or so honing that musical worldview and coming up with a sound that defies traditional categorization – it’s bluesy, folky, country rock, and gospel soul, all mixed together. In 2013, she was able to create her first full length studio album, Dig, and in 2018 she joined forces with Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, and Leyla McCalla as part of a collaboration called Our Native Daughters. They’ve since released an al

Ruthie Foster is an extraordinary musician who has lived an extraordinary life. She started making music when she was just a kid, singing in Baptist churches around her home in Texas. It was gospel music all the time…until Ruthie Foster discovered the blues. But then, her life took a turn. She enlisted in the military and ended up in San Diego where she worked as a helicopter mechanic. Foster was destined for a life in music, however, and eventually made her way to New York City where she honed the craft of songwriting. She joined us in Florida at the 30A Songwriter’s Festival to share some thoughts about what making music for an audience means to her; that process, she says, lets her “channel the good stuff” in the world and it’s an experience she never wants to give up.

For Gretchen Peters, good music is all about creating compelling characters and telling a good story. That’s how she approaches her music and that’s how, she says, she was finally able to take on some of her chaotic and confusing feelings from the past couple of years and translate them into new songs. By focusing on creating and then giving voices to compelling characters, mostly women, Peters is able to tackle challenging and often heartbreaking subjects and ideas – political frustrations, concerns about the environment, dismay with and distrust of public power figures – and turn them into personal and meaningful reflections, reflections that we can all, somehow, understand and appreciate. From the fears and concerns of a young girl, to the hopelessness of unrelenting poverty, to the laissez-faire attitude of a woman in the twilight of her life, Gretchen Peters creates characters that everyone can relate to. That’s a gift and it’s one displayed most prominently on her new album, Dancing with the Beast. Sh

There was never a definitive moment when Lilly Winwood decided to become a musician, rather, she says, it was something that was always a part of her - part of the person she knew she always wanted to be. It probably helped that she grew up surrounded by music - her mother is from Nashville and her father, Steve Winwood, is known for his work with the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, etc. And Lilly says, she was the odd one out in her group of friends - the one who always listened to Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, and Led Zeppelin. Through those experiences she has developed a sound that is wholly her own. Lilly Winwood describes her 2017 debut EP, ‘Silver Stage' as her “coming of age album,” and tells us about it in an exclusive Folk Alley Session performance recorded at the 2018 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

(Session originally published in January, 2018) You know, songwriters, the really good ones, have this ability to twist a phrase or choose a word that somehow is exactly right. It's a real gift. But the truth is - everyone, songwriter or not, has a story to share. Not all of us, however, know how to share it. The desire to discover the stories we don't normally get to hear is what inspired Mary Gauthier to start working alongside combat veterans and the SongwritingWith:Soldiers organization a few years back. "We listen to their stories," she says, "And we turn their experiences into songs...We take an experience and turn it into something tangible, something that people everywhere can empathize with." It's an extraordinary project that's turned into a new album for Gauthier, 'Rifles and Rosary Beads,' and she shared a little bit about this remarkable group and the men and women who participate during her exclusive Folk Alley Session with us at this year's 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

(Session originally published in September, 2015) Born in Quebec of mixed Afro-Caribbean ancestry, Kaia Kater, resides in Toronto and spends extensive time in West Virginia, where she ardently studies balladry and traditional dance. As an original songwriter, she works to incorporate her perspective as one of the few people of color in roots music into the complex racial history of the traditions themselves. Her music combines beautifully subtle old-time banjo with soft sensibilities, mixing elements of both Canadian and American historical traditions with a decidedly modern sound.Kaia was born into the folk music scene. Her mother is a festival director and she learned to play clawhammer banjo at age 11 from Mitch Podolak (founder of the Winnipeg Folk Festival). Now, the Canadian native is studying the Appalachian folk traditions in West Virginia and connecting with the work of a range of artists - from old-time musician Dom Flemons to hitmaker Kendrick Lemar. A star in the making, Kaia stopped by the studio

From New Jersey, folk legend John Gorka got his start living in a music club’s basement and acting as resident MC and sound man. His exposure to folk troubadours inspired him, and before long he was performing his own songs – mostly as an opener for visiting acts. Soon he started traveling to New York City and folk meccas like Texas’ Kerrville Folk Festival (where he won the New Folk Award in 1984) and Boston where his stunningly soulful baritone voice and original songwriting began turning heads. In 1987, the Minnesota-based Red House Records caught wind of John’s talents and released his first album. He moved to Windham Hill/High Street before returning to his musical roots at Red House.Over the years of his rich career, Gorka has established himself as one of folk music’s most respected and beloved singer/songwriters, representing the bridge generation between the Folk Revival and the rise of Americana. Folk Alley caught up with John at the 2017 30A Songwriters Festival where his performances of songs and

In April, the duo Anna and Elizabeth (Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle) came to Beehive Productions studio in Saranac Lake, New York with their friend and colleague, Jarrett Gilgore (percussion). The duo arrived ready to share thoughts about and music from their new album, The Invisible Comes to Us. But maybe even more importantly, Anna and Elizabeth talked about the importance of preserving musical traditions from the past, bringing them into the present, and working hard to ensure that they’ll still be around in the future.  Their focus, they say, has always been about the stories people tell with their music: stories about lives and families, about work, and about loves and losses. The duo spent a couple of years searching for stories and for voices they’d never heard before; The Invisible Comes to Us is the work of many hours spent in archives and libraries and the pair couldn’t be more passionate about the end result.

When they’re not on the road as part of Steve Earle and the Dukes and Duchesses, The Mastersons (Eleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson) are on the road performing as…The Mastersons. These two are rarely in the place they call home and that sense of transience is one they explore in their most recent album, 2017’s Transient Lullaby. With songs written in hotel rooms, in green rooms, on tour buses, and everywhere and anywhere in between, The Mastersons ponder ideas of love and home from an incredibly unique perspective: they have a home of their own but that physical place means almost nothing to them. Home, instead, is something they create for themselves, no matter where they are.  The duo shared some of the influences and stories behind Transient Lullaby with us during their exclusive session at this year’s 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

You can change your surroundings when you sing – you can change your whole world, in fact. That’s because your voice is a powerful, wild instrument, one you shouldn’t be afraid to use. Moira Smiley came to that realization a few years ago and that eye-opening experience led her to record her newest album, Unzip the Horizon. She describes the album as having a quality of expanding, of opening out, and says she felt able to express herself personally for the first time. Naturally, talking about yourself, your anxieties and your worries is, Smiley says, incredibly frightening. But being willing to expand your horizons, open your mind, your heart and, yes, your mouth, gradually takes away a little bit of that fear. Joined by Stefan Amidon on dumbeck, fiddle, bodhran, and kick drum and by Robinson Morse on bass, Smiley stopped by Beehive Productions studio in Saranac Lake, NY to record this exclusive Folk Alley Session featuring songs from 'Unzip the Horizon.'

If you’ve ever moved from one climate to another, you know just how dramatic that shift feels. Chastity Brown, for example, is a native of Tennessee. A little more than a decade ago, she moved, on a “wild whim,” she says, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. That shift in culture and geography – not to mention climate – immediately started to help her shift her sonic palette.  Brown, who started out in music by singing in church and playing saxophone in marching band, picked up the guitar at 15. Shortly after that, she was writing her own songs. And ever since, she’s been enamored with her physical landscape – it sets the scenes for the stories she shares in her music.  Joined by Luke Enyeart on electric guitar and backing vocals, Brown shared some thoughts about her newest album, 2017’s Silhouette of Sirens, during an exclusive Folk Alley Session at this year’s 30A Songwriter’s Festival in Florida.