Tice’s quiet sparse video of “Walkin’,” which appears on his new album Motivational Speakeasy, out September 25, captures the spirit of a man with rambling on his mind.

“Oh Amelia” celebrates Amelia Earhart’s and Tori Murden McClure’s accomplishments, revealing a vision of the yearning to reach beyond ourselves to be more truly ourselves.

The deeply moving “Olivia” could easily be an anthem for these days when our lives rush down the river of time, lost in its churning waters that erase momentary delights—the first glimpse of the sun’s rays, the playful laughter of children, the slow blooming of flowers.

With “Horses in the Sky,” a song off her upcoming album, Long Day in the Milky Way (out August 14), singer/songwriter Kris Delmhorst explores the beauty and wonder that is always present, sometimes lurking in the darkest, most-consuming of shadows, wherein you have to look that much harder and hold that much tighter to every sliver of hope that flickers into view.

“’Never Forever’ is a meditation on impermanence, and a musical exploration of how cultures can converse. Like the entire album Critical Distance, I tried to find the songs, and articulate them as faithfully as possible. There was no specific stylistic agenda, but more so an open-hearted approach to letting the music lead the way. "

Joined here by Tatiana Hargreaves, Blount works through "Beyond This Wall" from his upcoming debut album Spider Tales (out 5/29 on Free Dirt Records). Written by Judy Hyman well before anyone in particular was talking about building any walls, the tune was actually named by Hyman's husband, Jeff Claus, after he saw an old photo of the entrance to a lesser-known concentration camp. Blount welcomed the tune into the Black string band canon because the experiences of and expressions by one group of marginalized people very often mirror those of another.

What happens when the Punch Brothers meets Jean-Luc Ponty and Ian Anderson and they stroll down Mozart lane? Why, Twisted Pine’s beguiling and catchy “Amadeus Party,” of course. Mandolinist Dan Bui scats down the frets of his mandolin to open the tune, while flautist Anh Phung trills in counterpoint, providing the foundation for fiddler Kathleen Parks to float in with her sensuous fiddle runs. The merry band scampers along with fiddle, flute, and mandolin weaving in and around each other, the music spiraling into a joyous party song, and the bluegrass jazz turns disco as the band shouts “Amadeus Party,” with members of Twisted Pine dressed for the occasion.

For this song, “Hometown Blues,” the duo drew from the story of Pharis’s father, who returned to Horsefly, B.C., after living for a time in larger cities like Vancouver and Montreal. For the instrumental arrangement, the couple leaned on the aesthetic and low-tuned banjo style of their shared hero John Hartford.

“It started out simply enough, trying to describe the tension between a small town and a river,” Erelli says. “One needs the other, but the cycles of disaster and rebirth started to make us wonder if the reverse was true. When we decided to write it as if the river itself were the song’s protagonist, things got far more interesting. The central riff of the song is one of the favorite things I’ve ever written. I could play it for days."

Visually, the slow-rolling, lush cinematography echoes the musical soundscape it represents even as it contrasts the barren landscape it captures. “We wanted this video to encapsulate the love between two people over a lifetime,” Baxley explains. “The apocalyptic backdrop driving the point that true love only becomes more vibrant in the toughest of times. It’s a poetic visual.”