Folk Alley Sessions

After releasing her album All or Nothin' and being nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year by the Americana Music Association in 2015, Nashville based country rock outlaw Nikki Lane and her band spent most of their time on the road, playing for ever-increasing crowds, working to expand their fan base, and just generally ripping things up. No surprise, then, that she got tired.So when she went into a studio to record a new album (her third), she wasn’t pleased with the results – it was technical perfection, she says, but it wasn’t the record she wanted to make.When her partner – musical and life – Jonathan Tyler suggested she try again with no outside producer, she was initially hesitant. But after tracking a song or two, she knew she was well on her way to a record that is, she says, the best thing she has done so far.Highway Queen is a mixtape of an album, one with both tearjerkers and barn burners, and at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida earlier this year, Nikki L

Recorded at Florida's 30A Songwriters Festival, Robert Ellis performed a few songs off of his third and eponymous CD - which he describes as a collection of songs about the intricacies of relationships (good ones and bad ones), at home and on the road.

Session Americana is a band/collective of talented musicians who craft a musical experience unlike any other. Their onstage kit includes a ragtag collection of instruments that have lived a life: a vintage suitcase recast as a kick drum, an old Estey field organ, a pre-war parlor guitar, a mandocello and all of its smaller siblings, a harmonica case fire damaged in a bar far and graffitied by Depeche Mode roadies, and an assortment of other instruments that get passed around in this freewheeling modern hootenanny. The group brings a kind of ease and genuineness to this timeless music, sometimes presenting the latest batch of original songs, sometimes reaching back into depths of the American "song bag."Session Americana started life as actual sessions, onstage in Boston. At a certain point, the stage in Boston turned into writing original music and a trip to Kimon Kirk's home studio to discover their full potential. As Jefferson Hamer says, bands don't need formal studios to create great music anymore "

The collection of songs on 'Magic Fire,' the 2016 release from The Stray Birds, owes a lot to their work with the legendary Larry Campbell. As he was producing the band's album, he helped them expand their sound by adding drums and being more collaborative (including a song written with Nashville neighbor Lindsay Lou). The string-band trio originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is now touring as a quartet as Maya de Vitry, Charlie Muench and Oliver Craven have been joined on the road by drummer Dom Billet. The group stopped by BeeHive Studios in Saranac Lake, New York, in November, 2016 to talk about change and record exclusive performance videos.

David Bromberg has had two successful careers. One as an in-demand blues guitarist and master sideman for acts from the Eagles to Link Wray to Phoebe Snow, his crowd included Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Jerry Garcia. Then, in 1990, he stepped back " way back " and became a violin expert (he still has a thriving business selling and repairing instruments). He couldn't stay away for long and returned to the stage in 2002. On tour supporting his 2016 release, 'The Blues, the Whole Blues and Nothing but the Blues,' Bromberg and his band (Nate Grower - fiddle; Mark Cosgrove " mandolin, guitar; Josh Kanusky - drums; and Suavek Zaniesienko - bass) stopped by BeeHive Studios in Saranac Lake, New York for an in-studio performance and interview.

The string and vocal ensemble Low Lily explores the roots and branches of American folk music with traditional influences and modern inspiration that weaves together a unique brand of acoustic music. Liz Simmons (vocals and guitar), Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, and mandolin), Corey DiMario (stand-up bass) and Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals and fiddle) are masterful players with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from bluegrass to Irish, Scottish, New England, and Old Time Appalachian sounds.Bands in the world of folk and roots music often find their line-ups to be fluid. Fine players make friends in a variety of combinations " and sometimes this movement can be tricky to follow. The string and vocal ensemble Low Lily started its life as Annalivia. A personnel shift led to a name change, but the core of the group is still tied to a contemporary take on traditional string music and vocal harmony. Low Lily stopped by Folk Alley's studio at WKSU in Kent, OH for a performance and interview that

Richard Shindell's songs paint pictures, tell stories, juxtapose ideas and images, inhabit characters, vividly evoking entire worlds along the way and expanding our sense of just what it is a song may be. Taking up the guitar at the age of eight, he made his first attempts at songwriting during college, where he studied Philosophy. After college and a nine month stint in a Zen Buddhist community in Upstate New York, he headed to Europe with his guitar, performing in the Paris Metro. Upon running out of money, and despite being an atheist, he was accepted by Union Theological Seminary (NY), beginning his studies in 1986. Three years in an M.Div. program did nothing to cure him of his atheism. However, it did inspire his first "keeper": "On a Sea of Fleur de Lis."More songs followed. He began frequenting a well-known songwriters circle on Houston Street in New York City. He started to think of himself as a songwriter, abandoning his theological studies. He released solo albums and, in 1998, Shindell joined forc

Miss Tess & The Talkbacks rock an old-school rock-a-billy vibe that is the natural cross of her upbringing in a family fond of American folk and '30s swing band sounds. Although she started in Maryland, migrating to Boston and NYC, Miss Tess and the band are now calling Nashville home. Her music is upbeat and dance-worthy, with a contemporary and relatable feel. On her new release 'Baby, We All Know,' Miss Tess continues to explore her own personal crossroads of American roots music. This full-length release features eleven finely crafted and well-sung original songs. Heightened by Tess' prowess on her Weymann archtop guitar, she is accompanied by her top-notch band, The Talkbacks, featuring guitar ace and co-conspirator Thomas Bryan Eaton. The songs were further enlivened with piano, organ, pedal steel, and fiddle in the studio. Tess studied piano as a child, and continued on as a teenager to take up the guitar and singing, and eventually began her own studies in early jazz and blues. All grown up, Miss

Singer/songwriter Ana Egge grew up an outsider in a small North Dakota town of 50 people. Her parents, back-to-the-land hippies, built a community of friends based on a newspaper ad listing song lyrics and suggesting a 20th century meet-up. Her childhood in North Dakota and New Mexico was filled with experiences with the ability to make her adventurous and self-reliant. She learned how to shoot a gun and how to enjoy alfalfa sprouts as the child of back-to-the-land hippies. Egge has since traded the openness of the American Plains for the untamable wilderness of New York City, recorded seven albums, and worked with musical legends such as Asleep at the Wheel, Ron Sexsmith and Steve Earle. She's been around the horn of life's experiences, having gotten married and become a mother " both of which have altered her perspective and added weight to her writing.Egge continues her collaborative spirt by touring with The Sentimentals, a Danish folk-rock trio who worked with her on her most-recent album, 'Say That Now.

Folk powerhouse pair The Small Glories are Cara Luft & JD Edwards, a dynamic duo planted on the Canadian Prairies. They are a study in contrasts; Cara, all earth mother on her 21-speed bike, helmet and backpack, environmentally friendly and wholesome, ebullient and engaging; and burly JD, looking like a cross between a biker and long-haul trucker in scruffy beard, ball cap, t-shirt and jean jacket, slightly intimidating (until you meet him). At first glance few would peg them for a highly creative musical partnership. Yet these two veteran singer/songwriters have teamed up and are building a buzz around their tight harmonies, authenticity and visceral performances.Luft is a Juno award winner, co-founder of folk trio The Wailin' Jennys, and a touring road warrior. She has earned a solid reputation as an exciting live performer, accomplished guitarist, clawhammer banjo player and insightfully honest songwriter. Edwards has a voice that defies categorization, one that easily ranges from gentle and melodic to

Galax, Virginia's Dori Freeman comes from a family rooted in art and tradition. Her grandfather is an artist and guitar player, and her father, a multi-instrumentalist and music instructor. While her style subscribes to no one genre, the influence of her Appalachian upbringing lies at the core of her music - heard especially in the lulling mountain drawl of her voice. She sings without affect and with striking clarity, delivering each song carefully and earnestly. Her early introduction to musicians like Doc Watson, The Louvin Brothers, and Peggy Lee have heavily influenced her modern yet timeless sound. Dori's songs often center on heartache and pining; unrequited and sometimes unconventional love are common muses for her melodies and lyrics.The twenty-four-year-old Freeman brought her songs to Beehive Productions in Saranac Lake, New York for a few intimate performances and to talk about collaborating with Teddy Thompson on her debut self-titled album, released in February of 2016.

Maybe it’s the cold winters that lock people inside, balanced by true natural beauty to pull them out again, but Minnesota has born powerful songwriters including Bob Dylan and Prince. Austin Plaine’s musical poetry comes out of that bracing cold that embraces introspection. His songs have the rare ability to add meaningful and thought-provoking lyrics to tunes with the potential of 100 earworms.Born in Fargo, ND and raised in Minnesota, Plaine’s music is seeded in storytelling. At age 13, Austin was intrigued to find a guitar that belonged to his grandfather in a family closet and, with the help of his cousin, he learned his first chords and dove straight into songwriting. Taking inspiration from artists like Dylan, Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, and Ryan Adams, Austin tells emotional, inspirational and personal stories about love, exploring the world and living life to the fullest. His raw, concise lyrics and beautiful melodies have proven to be a soundtrack to TV shows and commercials. Maste

For two decades, Gretchen Peters has been one of Nashville's most beloved and respected artists. Peters was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her "both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes." Her 2015 album, 'Blackbirds', debuted at #1 on the UK Country chart and in the top 40 UK pop chart, and was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year at the UK Americana awards in February 2016. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the best 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Peters didn't set out to write an album centered on death and mortality, but the songs on 'Blackbirds' told her that's where they needed to go. It was a time in her life when she noticed the ratio of weddings to funerals shift from gaining to loss. Peters performed songs from her the album and talked about the songwriting process when she visited Folk Alley at Florida's 30A Songwriters Festival. Check out our int

Caroline Spence is enamored with words and songs. Though countless singer-songwriters boast the same simple claim, few have been lifted up by their passion the way Caroline has. Her passion led the Virginia native on a pilgrimage to Nashville, where the 26-year-old honed her writing and her coy, dusky soprano across folk, Americana and alt-country genres. Her songs live and breathe with Spence's guitar and vocals, masterfully navigating a breadth of genres with a perfect sense of intimacy and style, at times with the rock of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, the twang of Lower Broadway, or the sensitivity of swelling pedal steel and simple percussion.Virginia native Spence began writing songs at an early age and was quickly successful with her music. After she won three songwriting contests " Kerrville Folk Fest, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest and American Songwriter magazine's lyric contest " Caroline decided to dive into the deep end and focus on a career in music. Still in the early days of her journey and living and

Two-time Grammy-winning singer and master songwriter Jim Lauderdale is both a "songwriter's songwriter," who's written/co-written many modern classics for iconic artists, as well as an intuitive sideman, who's enhanced the music of a bevy of esteemed musicians. As a solo artist, since 1986 up until now, he's created a body work spanning 28 albums of imaginative roots music, encompassing country, bluegrass, soul, R&B and rock. Along the way he's won awards, garnered critical acclaim, and earned himself an engaged fan base. Although Lauderdale is probably best known for his many collaborations with Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, Donna the Buffalo and others, he is a talented songwriter and storyteller. The man himself met up with Folk Alley and the folks from BeeHive Productions at Florida's 30A Songwriters Festival to share some songs and record video performances. He offered selections from his latest release, 'Soul Searching,' a double album that brings together Memphis and Nashville.

After two fan-funded studio recordings and nearly four years touring the US as an independent act traversing the continent, Quiles & Cloud (Maria and Rory, respectively) teamed up with Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Alison Brown for their latest album, 'Beyond the Rain' on the Compass Records label. Human emotion and world strife play out as central themes throughout the new album. Quiles & Cloud (pronounced key-less) have marked a pivotal moment in their development as a group, demonstrating their continued ability to combine subtle precision with stark grit and creative exploration.Quiles & Cloud, along with touring partner Oscar Westesson, visited Beehive Productions Studio of a exclusive Folk Alley Session taping in April 2016.

Bluegrass has always been a mix of musical inspirations. Perhaps that's why young bands, like Old Salt Union, continue to embrace the genre. The members of the quintet (based in Illinois, near St. Louis, Missouri) come from a variety of backgrounds " classical, alternative, jazz " and they find themselves playing an updated form of the music Bill Monroe made famous in the mid-20th century.In January of 2016, Old Salt Union came by the studio and played a few songs from their EP, 'Cut and Run' for Folk Alley at the 30A Songwriters Festival. 

Portland, Oregon-based, Ashleigh Flynn grew up in Kentucky and cut her teeth on local bluegrass music. She arrived on the national scene in 2008 with the release of her record, 'American Dream,' and continues playing national and international stages. A prolific songwriter, Flynn is also an electrifying performer blessed with unbridled charisma. Her songs are inspired by the stories of real people - like coal miners, two cowgirls riding the outlaw trails and her grandfather, an Irish musician she never met. Based on the merits of 'American Dream' and her follow-up album, 'A Million Stars' in 2013, Flynn has performed at many a music festival including Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, Falcon Ridge Folk, High Sierra, Gamble Rogers, Sisters Folk, and most recently the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. Folk Alley and the BeeHive Productions crew caught up with Ashleigh and Kathryn Claire at the 30A Songwriters' Festival for a chat and a few exclusive video performances, including one from her newest EP, 'The Low Ar

Texas singer and songwriter Hayes Carll received his first guitar at the age of 15 and almost immediately began writing songs, influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Dead Poets Society, and the work of the Beat writers. After graduating with a history degree from Hendrix College in Conway, AR in 1998, Carll returned to his Texas roots and began playing in local bars and recording his songs. Carll's second album, 'Little Rock,' on his own Highway 87 Records, reached the top spot on the Americana charts in 2005. His 2011 album, 'KMAG YOYO' (the title comes from the military and is an abbreviation for "Kiss My Ass Guys, You're On Your Own"), won the Americana Music Association's Album of the Year award and was placed on several year best of lists by various media outlets. Hayes Carll (and guest vocalist Allison Moorer) sat down with Folk Alley at the 30A Songwriters Festival -- beginning with a performance of his 2015 Grammy-nominated "Chances Are," which also earned a nomination f

JT Nero (of JT and the Clouds) and Allison Russell (of Po'Girl) " now Birds of Chicago - had been friends and mutual admirers of each other's work for years before that friendship evolved into a musical and life partnership. They released their first studio album as a duo in 2012, and then followed up quickly with a live recording in 2013. Now, they've just put out their sophomore studio recording, 'Real Midnight' produced by Joe Henry. It's the last album recorded in Henry's acclaimed Garfield House studio in South Pasadena, CA, and it showcases beautifully the pairing of JT's songwriting with Allison's powerful yet understated vocals.During their recent Northeast tour, the Birds of Chicago dodged a few blizzards and rolled into Saranac Lake, NY for a Folk Alley Session taping at Beehive Productions studio. Here, they're joined by Joel Schwartz on guitar and Chris Merrill on bass.