Artist of the Month: Alice Gerrard

At 89 years old, old-time music community leader, Grammy nominee, and Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee Alice Gerrard continues to place her music making and creativity decidedly in the present. While every lyric she utters and every note she picks feels effortlessly timeless, storied, and burnished – by her lived experiences and by days, weeks, and months of toil – her songs are ultimately forward-looking, leaning into the future with intention and wisdom. They also feel paradoxically light and joyous while at the same time they stand at the nexus of “what used to be” and “what will come.” Gerrard holds this position with equal power, agency, and insight.

Her latest album, the upcoming self-produced Sun to Sun, out October 20 on Sleepy Cat Records, captures the ineffable of the particular center-of-the-Venn-diagram that she inhabits, as a song collector, a knowledge bearer, and a folk music synthesizer of the world’s woes and struggles for justice. As witness to more than a handful of iterations of the modern movement for equal rights and racial, gender, and economic justice, Gerrard is able to challenge the systems and powers that be in grounded, measured, and realistic ways – ways that never limit possibilities for the future. (A remarkable trait in a creative who uses “old-timey” media and formats as her primary form of expression.)

Remember Us,” the album’s stunning lead single, is – as Gerrard says via press release – an ode to “all the departed whose shoulders we stand on, whose work and lives we benefit from, who came or were transported against their will to this land.” Sung in stark a capella by Gerrard, Tatiana Hargreaves, and Reed Stutz, the track feels pulled directly from the gospel singing traditions of the American South that each stem from Black and formerly enslaved musical traditions. It speaks into community spaces the names, lives, and souls of so many Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks who lost their lives at the hands of empire and the police state.

“Old Jim Crow” makes the apropos point that segregation and racial apartheid in our country were not that long ago nor that far away, calling the partisan gerrymandering, political divisiveness, and waves of hatred befalling the U.S. exactly what they are: a new kind of the Old Jim Crow. “Keep It Off the Seat,” a Gerrard-penned modern classic, was inspired by the North Carolina General Assembly’s transphobic HB2 measure from 2016 – that also inspired our showcase, Shout & Shine, at IBMA in Raleigh and eventually saw Gerrard singing “Keep It Off the Seat” from the Shout & Shine stage in 2017 with Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, Hargreaves, and more. At her live shows, she encourages her audience to sing along during the rousing chorus: “Who cares where you pee? Just keep it off the seat!”

These themes and through lines would be notable in any bluegrass and old-time forebear’s catalog, but here, among Gerrard’s lifelong discography, they are certainly not outliers but continuations of a career that has always been committed to telling untold stories, singing unsung songs, spotlighting and amplifying invisible voices. Gerrard’s age, her position as a roots music elder, reinforces the importance of these subjects, and leaves subtle, existential fingerprints over the entire album. We know Gerrard’s commitment to singing and standing in truth, but in these songs and in this collection, we feel that commitment more than see it, we sense it just as strongly as we view it.

Sun to Sun was tracked in Durham, North Carolina – Gerrard’s home turf for decades, now – with a collection of collaborators and musicians pulled directly from her immediate community. Hargreaves, one of the most prominent fiddlers in the old-time and bluegrass scenes of late, has worked for Gerrard for a number of years as an archivist and assistant of sorts and features heavily on the album; Stutz, an in-demand multi instrumentalist who also straddles the fences between folk, bluegrass, old-time, and Americana, plays guitar and banjo. Other credits include first-rate sacred steel player DaShawn Hickman, Hasee Ciaccio on bass, Marcy Marxer guesting on guitar and cello banjo, Gail Gillespie, Nick Falk, and soulful songwriter, singer, producer, etc. Phil Cook – who collaborated with Gerrard on her 2014 album, Follow the Music – as well.

It makes perfect sense that a community builder such as Gerrard, who has always prioritized the most human aspects of roots music in her creative output, would be able to construct a collection of songs that feels pointed and convicting, but also organic and natural. Sun to Sun approaches heavy topics with ease, as a pair of good friends over a cup of tea on the porch can seemingly solve all of the world’s problems with passion, joy, and unbridled care for the forgotten and invisible among us. Gerrard calls on her folks, her musical and personal communities as well as her listeners and fans, to join with her in the journey she has begun and that we must continue, from sun to sun to sun to sun.

To celebrate Alice Gerrard’s selection as our October Artist of the Month, we’ll be diving back into our archive of Sitch Sessions, interviews, posts, and stories that highlight her incredible music – and her exemplary activism through that music and across the decades. In the meantime, enjoy our Essential Alice Gerrard playlist below, plus two of our BGS favorite Sitch Sessions of all time that feature Gerrard (viewable above), and watch for our Artist of the Month feature to come later in October.


Photo Credit: Libby Rodenbough

LISTEN: Veronique Medrano, “Dear Dorothy”

Artist: Veronique Medrano
Hometown: Brownsville, Texas
Song: “Dear Dorothy”
Album: MexiAmericana
Release Date: September 22, 2023

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Dear Dorothy’ as a playful way to address my luck – or lack thereof – when it came to love in my 20s, and to address the stories that we women tell to and hear from our best friends during a break up. Also acknowledging the hilarity in how life can take the wildest turns, especially when we least expect it. I wrote this song as an homage to my best friend, Dorothy, who passed away, with the hope that the essence of our friendship and humor would shine through. Dating in your 20s is full of wild and crazy stories, and so my thought is… what if after the break up everything went better? This song, along with the many others that I wrote or selected for my album, were to acknowledge and celebrate the seasons of love, heartbreak, independence and self discovery that brought me to the place I am now.” – Veronique Medrano

Track Credits: Written by Veronique Michelle Medrano

Producer: Mariano Herrera, Veronique Medrano
Engineer: Mariano Herrera
Mixing & Mastering: Mariano Herrera, Veronique Medrano
Executive Producer: Mario Davila
Recording Supervisor: Javi G
Recorded at Produce Sound Studios


Photo courtesy of Marushka Media

STREAM: Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments: Fiddles Vol. 1

Album: Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments: Fiddles Vol. 1
Release Date: September 15, 2023
Label: Jalopy Records

In Their Words: “The museum’s musical atlas of instruments continues with the opening of another wing, the first in a series on bowed instruments. To stretch boundaries over the earth and over time is to forsake them; whether it is a matter of Synchronizität or just the plain unconscious. In Western cultural history, the bowed instrument is a late installment, after centuries, of an almost primordial vibration that we imagine in sound; see in the old paintings; and yet can sample in the remnants of the ancient world captured on gramophone records.” – Pat Conte, curator

The Secret Museum series is legendary. It opened up new possibilities for me when I first heard it in the 1990s. The curator is Pat Conte, he did something remarkable, even more so because it was before the internet: Starting in the 1970s he began assembling the first and arguably greatest collection of world music recorded in the 78 rpm record era of the 1920s – 1950s, give or take. He did it by casing junk stores in Queens, New York, the most diverse place in the world, and by maintaining letter correspondence with collectors and dealers across the globe. That is the music you will find on the Secret Museum of Mankind albums.

“Conte programs the records by feel, not with a predefined structure. The records are not meant to be academic, they are meant to move the listener. The movement is emotional, using music that was recorded in different places and at different times. Each listener will experience the sequence in their own way, and each track is its own world.

The Secret Museum of Mankind: Atlas of Instruments – Fiddles, Vol. 1 continues the series and presents fiddle sounds developed and practiced across the globe. The compilation, drawn from Conte’s pioneering and remarkable personal collection of 78 rpm discs recorded in the 1920s – 1950s, offers fiddle music recorded across the world from Crete to Madagascar, Mexico, England, Sicily, Norway, India, the USA, Cape Verde, China and more.” – Eli Smith, producer


Image courtesy of Jalopy Records, Nick Loss-Eaton Media

LISTEN: John McCutcheon & Tom Paxton, “Life Before You”

Artist: John McCutcheon & Tom Paxton
Hometown: Smoke Rise, Georgia; Alexandria, Virginia
Song: “Life Before You”
Album: Together
Release Date: October 13, 2023
Label: Appalseed

In Their Words: “Tom Paxton and I started writing together early on during the pandemic and, with seemingly endless time on our hands, we tackled all manner of subjects and ideas. This one started out as a pretty standard love song. But, often, along the way, one of us will say, ‘Wait a minute, what if this turned left instead of right?,’ and we’ll bravely go down that blind alley. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Tom was particularly enamored of the way the ending comes out of left field to the listener, a real surprise. He breaks into a big grin every time the end of verse three rolls around. One of the great joys of songwriting teamwork is to see your partner so delighted with the final result. Doesn’t get any better…” – John McCutcheon


Photo Credit: Michael G. Stewart

Nashville’s Queerfest Returns for Its Second Year

On August 11 and 12 Queerfest returns to Nashville, Tennessee, after its first in-person event in 2022 was named Nashville Scene’s Best New Music Festival. The multi-venue festival and celebration of queer folk, roots music, and indie will take place at three popular Nashville music venues – the 5 Spot, Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, and the Basement East – and will feature over eight hours of programming from LGBTQ+ identified musicians from across the genre landscape. (Full lineup and schedule below, tickets available here.)

In anticipation of this year’s event, we spoke to festival founder, community builder, singer-songwriter, and BGS contributor Sara Gougeon, founder and director of Pineworks Creative, about Queerfest, its growth, and why queer-centered communities are so vital, not just in Music City but in the music industry in general.

Congratulations on your second in-person Queerfest and your third ever! What are you looking forward to during this year’s festival?

SG: I’m so stoked about the lineup and the community. There are SO many phenomenal LGBTQ+ artists on this year’s lineup. And I’m so excited to bring the community together again in a way that supports queer music, artists, and organizations. I’m really looking forward to soaking up that energy.

Are there particular artists on the lineup you’re excited to have this year? Who are some of the artists and bands you think the QF audience will be most excited to discover?

I’m honestly excited for the lineup as a whole. As a songwriter and musician myself, I’m very particular about the artists and bands that I chose to book. If I had to choose one stand out band, it’d be The Collection. Their live show has this electric live energy and they also just seem so genuine. I’m stoked to be booking them. I love highlighting great music all around – regardless of how big the artist is. Sydnee Conley and Dani-Rae Clark are two up-and-coming artists who might not be as well known and their music blows me away. And Great Aunt who is coming all the way from Australia!

Liv Greene (center) performs with Jobi Riccio (right) and Christine Wilhoyte (left) at Queerfest 2022

How would you describe the growing and blossoming queer music scene in Nashville, and more broadly, in the music industry as a whole?

What an interesting question. There’s been so much growth and acceptance within the industry. I’m always blown away by how many phenomenal queer artists there are in Nashville. The industry as a whole is definitely seeing more artists come out.

It’s actually incredible to talk to artists who are a few generations older about that growth. I’ve heard stories from artists who were kicked off their label after coming out. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of history of that sort. But it’s been so incredible to build spaces, highlight queer music, and watch the industry become more inclusive in many ways.

Why do you think it’s so important to create and hold spaces like Queerfest for LGBTQ+ musicians, artists, and fans?

I decided to start Queerfest because of a personal need. I couldn’t find community spaces. And I was surprised that there weren’t places highlighting queer artists. And yet I noticed that there are SO MANY phenomenal queer artists, and so many queer people in general looking for inclusive spaces.

Queerfest and BGS have partnered on a column, Out Now, which was also created to hold space for LGBTQ+ folks in music. Who is on your wishlist to interview for Out Now? Is there anyone you dream of booking on a future Queerfest?

Oooh! I am so excited that we started Out Now! I’d love to interview Katie Pruitt and Joy Oladokun. Oh, and she’s definitely more in the popular music genre, but it’d be amazing to feature Fletcher one day.

And there are so many other artists: Becca Mancari, Jaime Wyatt, Shelly Fairchild, Palmyra, Aaron Lee Tasjan, SistaStrings, Leith Ross, Corook, Shelly Fairchild, Olive Klug.

And these artists who played the 2021 virtual festival: Mary Gauthier, Jaime Harris, The Accidentals, Izzy Heltai.

I’d love to have all of these acts both in-person and on Out Now!

Carmen Dianne (right) performs with band at Queerfest 2022

Do you have any advice for queer folks out there trying to find community and belonging in Nashville and in music?

Come to Queerfest!! But also, there are a lot of pockets of queer community/events/organizations popping up. Check out Outdoorsy Queers – I founded this community group with friends. We host hikes, climbs, park days, roller skating hangs, and more!

Other ways to connect with queer community in Nashville:

Queer Book Club
RNBW
QDP (Queer Dance Party)
Nashville GSA
Inclusion TN (They are working on developing a community center)

QUEERFEST 2023 FULL SCHEDULE:

Friday, August 11

Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge
6:00-8:30 pm
Featuring: JB Somers, Sydnee Conley, Gina Venier, Dani-Rae Clark, Justin Hiltner

Saturday, August 12

The 5 Spot
3-5 pm
Featuring: Olivia Rudeen, Summer Joy, Great Aunt

The Basement East
Doors: 6 pm
Show: 7-11 pm
Featuring: Julia Cannon, Madeleine Kelson, Skout, Marielle Kraft, The Collection


All Photos: Andrea Schollnick
Graphic courtesy of Queerfest, Sara Gougeon.

Bluegrass & Roots Songs to Strike To

Hot. Strike. Summer!!

It was just announced that hundreds of thousands of Teamsters driving for shipping and logistics company UPS will avert a strike after their negotiations came through, but even so, dozens of strike authorization votes are happening all across the U.S. as workers the world over watch WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Amazon and Starbucks unionization drives, and smaller pickets like that at dinner theater Medieval Times. Union membership and public opinions toward unions are at highs not seen since the ’60s, and millennial and Gen-Z workers are joining unions, striking, and picketing at astronomical rates.

It’s important to remember that, although bluegrass in its modern iteration can often feel staunchly conservative, militantly patriotic, and delusionally nostalgic for “old-fashioned values,” it’s a genre that was born from the creativity of working class and impoverished Southerners, Appalachians, and immigrants – and it has always had a pro-worker, leftward bent. Singers, pickers, songwriters, and performers like Hazel Dickens, Ola Belle Reed, the Country Gentlemen, the Johnson Mountain Boys, Mac Wiseman, Earl Scruggs, and so many more were ardent supporters of the working class and hostile towards corporations, mines, and management. There are truly countless, never ending pro-worker, pro-labor songs to choose from in the bluegrass, old-time, and roots-music canon.

Bluegrass and old-time music, though entangled in a dense constellation of roots music and occupying space adjacent to folk music and the folk revival, were anti-corporate greed since before they had names, before Pete Seeger, before the folk revival itself. That legacy is important to place at the very center of bluegrass, a genre of music that was born out of industrialization (see also: Industrial Strength Bluegrass) as mountain folk, Appalachians, and Southerners migrated out of their rural homeplaces to urban industrial centers. Bluegrass was born from radio stations, railroads, from company towns and workers’ barracks. Whether rubber or auto plants in Ohio and Michigan, factories in Chicago, cotton mills and tobacco warehouses in North Carolina, or anywhere else in the region, as poor folks bled out of their ancestral homes to find work and upward mobility, they brought their music and their community mindsets. As bell hooks puts it in Belonging: A Culture of Place, the mountains and rural spaces are where mutual aid and anarchy are concrete, everyday practices, not just philosophies or concepts.

With those people and their music came a penchant for workers’ and labor rights, suspicion of management and company stores and towns, and a vehement, righteous anger at the injustices suffered by working class Southerners no matter where they migrated. It’s easy to find pro-Union songs, songs in support of workers’ health and agency, lyrics that espouse conservation and environmentalism in old-time, bluegrass, and string-band traditions. So easy, in fact, we quickly amassed a 4+ hour playlist featuring some of our favorite songs (bluegrass and beyond) for marching the picket line, raising a fist, and redistributing the power – and wealth – back to the world’s 99%.

Scroll to find the full playlist of Bluegrass & Roots Songs to Strike To. Below, enjoy a few selections from the list.

“In Tall Buildings” – John Hartford

John Hartford describes the doldrums of daily work as almost no one else can. (John Prine gets close with, “How the hell can a person/ Go to work in the mornin’/ And come home in the evenin’/ And have nothing to say?”) At the end of our 30-some years working, what will we have to show for ourselves besides a suit, haircut, and no more life left to give to our “retirement?” Plus, as any career musician can tell you, planning a life around retirement isn’t exactly a good option to begin with.

“Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow” – Wilma Lee Cooper

Ain’t gonna work tomorrow, cause it’s STRIKING day! Wilma Lee Cooper will, at long last, join the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame this September. A bluegrass forebear who saw broad commercial success before the genre had a name or an understood identity, she regularly landed tracks with decidedly bluegrass aesthetics on Billboard‘s early country charts.

“Lazy John” – Bruce Molsky

Under capitalism, laziness is a radical act! Be like Lazy John! If you’re working all week in the noon-day sun just for 16 cents, yes, it’s strike time.

“Cotton Mill Man” – Jim & Jesse

As we remember the life and legacy of Jesse McReynolds, who recently passed, it’s striking that although he and his brother Jim performed largely cover songs and tracks written by others, they were still able to express with great subtlety their own points of view through the material they chose. Like “Cotton Mill Man” and Prine’s “Paradise,” which was a hit for the duo, their catalog of recorded and performed material is dense with class awareness.

“Black Waters” – Jean Ritchie

A truly timeless classic that remains as relevant today as in the time of its writing, as clean water protections across the U.S. have been repeatedly gutted since 2016 – and before. Our country continues to show where its priorities are, beating down protests and demonstrations even as popular and supported as Standing Rock, in order to force us to acquiesce and give up protection of our waters. The lyrical hook is even more poignant to someone, like myself, living in Tennessee Valley Authority territory in the Tennessee River Valley – where coal ash and pollutants are still regularly dumped into our waterways. These tales, these experiences, are best told directly from their sources, as in Ritchie singing this song.

“Carpal Tunnel” – Tristan Scroggins

One can find many a recording of “Carpal Tunnel” from across the years, but mandolinist Tristan Scroggins, in his mid-twenties, pointedly places this track in the present, delivering the lament in stark a capella accompanied only by body percussion. He deftly ties the lyric to embodiment and agency and reminds all of us – especially in an age governed by devices causing carpal tunnel writ large – we’re all merely one injury away from bankruptcy. Musicians know this fear intimately, as many a livelihood has been threatened by tendonitis and carpal tunnel.

“Tear Down the Fences” – Ola Belle Reed

A perfect encapsulation of solidarity across our differences – differences constructed by the ruling class to keep us quibbling amongst ourselves while they amass their wealth. This sort of community awareness often feels like a pure byproduct of the internet’s version of globalization, but even a woman banjo player from a tiny town in rural Western North Carolina understood that “all we have is each other,” way back before the worldwide web. It feels obvious to state. It shouldn’t seem remarkable, except that we’ve accepted the narrative that such compassion and ideas couldn’t possibly be born from rural spaces or the South.

“Blue Collar Blues” – Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers

From the shop steward of Industrial Strength Bluegrass himself, Joe Mullins, a classic working-man-blues-style bluegrass number about that paycheck to paycheck life. An all-too-common reality for so many pickers! Though that might be more accurately described as blueGRASS collar blues.

“Dark as a Dungeon” – The Country Gentlemen

Bluegrass mining songs are just as iconic in the bluegrass songbook as train songs, cheatin’ songs, murder ballads, and singing about moonshine. This version of “Dark as a Dungeon” by the Country Gentlemen is one of the best examples of the form – many of which made it onto our full playlist.

There are so many more bluegrass, old-time, string band, folk, and Americana songs for striking. Check out our full playlist below and let us know: What is your favorite pro-worker roots song?


Playlist selections by Justin Hiltner, Shelby Williamson, Jon Weisberger, and Amy Reitnouer Jacobs.

Photo Credit: By John Vachon in 1938. “Untitled photo, possibly related to picket line at the King Farm strike. Near Morrisville, Pennsylvania.” Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

LISTEN: Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz, “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies” (feat. Cara Dillon)

Artist: Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz
Hometown: Sheffield, England & Nashville, TN
Song: “Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies” (featuring Cara Dillon)
Album: Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs Of Mary Sands And Jane Gentry
Release Date: September 29, 2023
Label: Topic Records

In Their Words: “‘Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies’ is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs that I know. It is one of the better-known songs from the Sharp collection that is still sung on both sides of the Atlantic. Depending on where it is sung and by whom, different shades of meaning are illuminated – only a truly great song has this quality. We ran through this song twice in Cara’s kitchen, then headed upstairs to her studio and recorded it in one take. I have been a fan of Cara’s singing for a long time. Playing this song with her and Martin Simpson, one of the greatest guitarists on the planet, has been a highlight of my musical life.” – Thomm Jutz

“I’ve long considered that ‘Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies’ was one of the brightest jewels of Anglo-American folk songs. It has a bitter lyrical intensity and an exquisite and poignant melody which serves it so well. This setting and performance was the work of no time in recording terms, but it is three lifetimes worth of musical and personal experience, which allowed it to be captured with such ease. I loved working with Thomm on Nothing But Green Willow, and Cara Dillon is simply one of the finest singers of traditional song, as she demonstrates here.” – Martin Simpson


Photo Credit: Booney Crawford

WATCH: Larry & Joe, “Linda Barinas”

Artist: Larry & Joe
Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
Song: “Linda Barinas”

In Their Words: “’Linda Barinas’ is a song so well known that most Venezuelans can sing along.

“Eladio Ramón Tarife composed ‘Linda Barinas’ to honor his homeland, Barinas. It’s part of the Llano region and where this style of music, llanera, originated.

“The typical música llanera rendition would include harp, cuatro, maracas, bass and vocals, which makes our harp and banjo version quite unorthodox. Nonetheless, many Venezuelan traditional musicians have taken note of how seamlessly the five-string banjo melds with their instrumentation.

“Though Venezuela and Appalachia are thousands of miles apart, our folk traditions aren’t so different, and the sounds of our strings come together like old friends. Who would’ve thought?” – Joe Troop


Photo Credit: Billie Wheeler

Basic Folk – Miko Marks & Rissi Palmer

Rissi Palmer and Miko Marks have been laying the foundation for country musicians and fans who are Black for almost 20 years. Back in the early 2000s, both experienced the trials and tribulations of being Black women in country. Despite their successes and large growing fanbase, they were separately discouraged by the ceilings and roadblocks they encountered from the white-dominated industry. Even though they each nearly quit music, they discovered a deep and meaningful ally and friend in each other. Now, they are back in the spotlight in a different era that has seen a rise of Black musicians – and The Black Opry in Nashville. Recently, Rissi and Miko have been touring together and we got them both on the show to talk about their parallel experiences, their friendship, and what they’ve been up to recently. It was a sincere honor and a blast to speak with these inspiring women.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • STITCHERAMAZON • MP3

This month The Bluegrass Situation is highlighting The Black Opry as Artist of the Month. Basic Folk, a part of The Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network, is proud to present this episode in collaboration with our BGS motherhost.


Photo Credit: Cedrick Jones

WATCH: Elias Alexander & Maura Shawn Scanlin, “Wildflower”

Artist: Elias Alexander, Maura Shawn Scanlin, Ramblxr
Hometown: Portland, OR
Song: “Wildflower”
Album: Wildflower (single)
Release Date: June 1, 2023 (single); June 7, 2023 (video)

In Their Words: “‘Wildflower’ combines a fiddle tune with a lo-fi disco groove to take the listener on a journey through a field of wildflowers to a sunset dance party with friends. I’ve always loved the presence and emotionality that Maura brings to her fiddle playing. When she sent me this newly composed reel that she had written within the bagpipe scale, I took a lot of time to listen to the tune and tease out the corners of the melody. Like many tunes in the bagpipe scale, the tonality could be interpreted a number of different ways, but as I played around with it, I found this sort-of disco counter melody emerging.

“During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 I became obsessed with music production, in the way that term is used in pop and hip-hop (i.e. beatmaking), and I’ve been most drawn to the kind of lo-fi groovy bedroom pop sounds of artists like Clairo or Dominic Fike.

“Electronic drum beats, synths, and other pop production techniques are often eschewed in folk and traditional music, but I think it’s time we re-evaluate that. These tools are technology, in the same way that the violin is technology, and they all serve as tools for expression of the human spirit. I started my project ‘Ramblxr’ as a way to bridge the two worlds of acoustic traditional music and electronics, with the goal of staying true to my musical roots, taste, and evolving sensibilities.

“Maura laid down some beautiful strings, and we both hummed the countermelody to bring the track to a climax that feels like a sunset dance party with friends in a field of wildflowers in early June. I hope you enjoy the ride!” – Elias Alexander


Photo Credit: Elias Alexander by Anna Colliton; Maura Shawn Scanlin by Louise Bichan.