During an exclusive Folk Alley Session that North Carolina progressive sting band, Mipso, did for Folk Alley, the group eloquently talks about "the how and why" of their evolution as a band and the decision to push their musical boundaries in the first place.
Winnipeg duo, The Small Glories' (JD Edwards & Cara Luft) new album, Assiniboine & the Red, is a collection of collaborative songs of strength, resilience, and connection. They joined Folk Alley at the Lake Flower Landing in Saranac Lake, NY to talk about their history, their music, and their very exciting plans for the future.
(Session originally published in 2017)
Sarah Lee Guthrie has been on stage almost since birth. But she has never been up there alone. She started (and still performs) with her father, Arlo, and the rest of her talented family. Sarah Lee partnered with her husband, Johnny Irion, and even though they had great success, there was a folky voice that wanted to be heard. Now, she's out solo for the first time, giving full and glorious attention to the folk music that is her birthright. She sat down with Folk Alley at the 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. In January of 2019, Folk Alley caught up with Pat Byrne at the 30AFest in Florida.
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 to play songs from her album, White Tiger, at the pop-up studio our friends at Beehive Productions Studio set up at The Recovery Lounge.
Fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves and banjo player Allison de Groot first started their collaboration over the term “old-time music” and realized, pretty quickly, that their definition of the term was very similar. We like the same kinds of music, they say, and so it was easy to become musical partners and share that love with other music fans. The duo put out a self-titled album in 2019 and they came to Beehive Productions Studios in Saranac Lake, NY to talk about it and about their musical partnership.
During an exclusive session at the 2019 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida, Courtney Marie Andrews shared some thoughts about her work ethic, about her background, and, of course, about the music she makes.
Anna Tivel joins us for a Folk Alley Session taping at CitySpace in Easthampton, Massachusetts to share some thoughts about, and music from, her 2019 release, The Question. With Dietrich Strause joining her on backing vocals and guitar, Tivel dove into the inspiration behind a few songs on the recording…and explained why the music on this record, music from the guts, she says, feels oh so good.
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 Studios 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.
In late March of 2019, guitarist extraordinaire and songwriter, Molly Tuttle came by the studios of Beehive Productions in Saranac Lake, NY to share some thoughts about her musical history and to perform songs from her debut full-length album, When You’re Ready.
