Folk Alley Sessions

In 2018, Mary Gauthier joined Folk Alley for an exclusive session at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. Here she talks about working alongside combat veterans and with the SongwritingWith: Soldiers organization to share their experiences. Listen to the interview and watch performances of songs from her album, 'Rifles and Rosary Beads.'

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' for Folk Alley.

(This Folk Alley Session was originally published in November, 2014) - What happens when two greats join forces? Well, in the case of Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, a whole lot of banjo playing. For their 2014 eponymous duo album, Fleck says the main conceit was that "it would just be the two of us all the way," and not just in the studio. They also wanted to be able to tour the project properly, honorably, as a duo. But, as musicians are wont to do, Fleck explains, "As we got into it, we realized we really wanted to have different colors. So, we started pulling out all the banjos we had and looking at them and thinking about what went together in different ways." The resulting soundscape is painted with cello banjos, ukulele banjos, and even a bass banjo borrowed from Victor Wooten. Both pickers make the instruments earn their keep with Fleck, in particular, churning our superlative runs and riffs all the way through. But they also use the banjos in more measured ways to fold percussive rhythms into the mix and flesh out the sound because, as Washburn points out, "The truth is, a banjo head is a drum head."

(This Folk Alley Session was originally published in November, 2013) The wonder of the North Carolinian duo, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz and the music they create as Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) is the beauty and ease with which they come together vocally and musically. The songs are haunting in their simplicity - a quality that instantly connects with audiences. Hear the duo's performance recorded for Folk Alley in October, 2013 at the Pond House in Saranac Lake, New York by our partners at Beehive Productions.

Digging into the Folk Alley Sessions archives to revisit one of our all-time favorite exclusive performances. In 2013, Brown Bird (the late David Lamb and MorganEve Swain) stopped by the Folk Alley studio at WKSU in Kent, OH just as their album, 'Fits of Reason' was being released. The duo, influenced by a variety of world music, uses their tight harmonies to add the spirit of these sounds to an Americana roots flavor. In this interview with Matt Watroba, he says Brown Bird's music seems to have "ghosts" of other places and times drifting through its songs. Enjoy this FA Session, plus bonus videos from our "backstage session" from the 2012 Green River Festival.

On a wintery January day in 2019, Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert invited us to their cozy lake-side cabin in the Adirondacks of New York for an intimate Folk Alley Session. Here they perform songs from their release, 'When the Sun Goes Down.'

Sam Bush is a hero to multiple generations of folk fans - from those that remember his breakthrough work with the New Grass Revival to his current status as king of the summer festival circuit. His enthusiasm for the music and his continuing efforts to stretch the reach of the mandolin make him one of the most popular folk artists working today. In October, 2010, Sam and bandmate Stephen Mougin stopped by Folk Alley to talk to Jim Blum about baseball, the Nashville flood, and life on the road.

In the summer of 2016, folk powerhouse duo The Small Glories (Cara Luft and JD Edwards) stopped in at Beehive Productions in Saranac Lake, New York for an intimate performance, and to talk about becoming a band and their album, 'Wondrous Traveler.'

(This Session was originally published in March, 2014.) The folk and roots music world is full of cross-generational collaboration. But it usually takes the form of folksingers pairing up with other folksingers, borrowing from a long musical tradition. It's another thing altogether to take words written long ago and give them musical life. Leyla McCalla does just that on her album, 'Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes.' Though the collection includes a balance of her original arrangements with Haitian folk songs, what's most intriguing is the way she built many of the songs around Hughes' poetry. Leyla paid a visit to Folk Alley in February of 2014 to perform songs from 'Vari-Colored Songs' live in the Beehive Productions studio.

(This Folk Alley Session was first published in February, 2011) Guitarist Frank Vignola has been mastering his craft since before he was big enough for a standard-sized instrument. Known as one of the best in the business, he's played with names like Les Paul, Ringo Starr, Donald Fagen and Mark O'Connor. The native New Yorker stopped by the Folk Alley studios in early 2011 to tell host, Jim Blum the benefits of beating the pavement in search of a gig and developing a recognizable sound. He also performed a few songs accompanied by guitarist, Vinny Raniolo.

Folk Alley Sessions Archive: (This session was originally published in November, 20011). Before going onstage as the opening act for the 45th Kent State Folk Festival in 2011, the Carolina Chocolate Drops - Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, Leyla McCalla, and Hubby Jenkins) stopped by the Folk Alley studios to play a few songs and chat with host, Jim Blum.

Folk Alley Sessions Archive: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band stopped by the Folk Alley studio at WKSU in Kent, OH in December of 2011 for an exclusive performance and interview with Jim Blum.

John Gorka could be the standard bearer of the contemporary singer/songwriter. Infused with humor and touching personal moments, Gorka's music focuses on the heart with an honesty that connects with listeners on many levels. A long-time favorite at folk venues across the country, he continues to surprise as he incorporates changes in his own life into his songs as he embraces middle-age along with many of his fans.

(This Folk Alley Session was originally published March 14, 2014) RUNA draws on the diverse musical backgrounds of its band members and offers a contemporary and refreshing approach to traditional and more recently composed Celtic material. Through their repertoire of both highly energetic and graceful, acoustic melodies, along with their fusion of music from Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the United States, this vocal and instrumental ensemble gives its arrangements of traditional songs and tunes a fresh sound.

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 2018 recording, 'Rituals', reflects his multiple geographical identities. In January of 2019, Folk Alley caught up with Pat Byrne at the 30AFest in Florida.

From the Folk Alley Sessions archives, in 2010, Karan Casey and her band stopped in to Folk Alley's studio for an exclusive performance and interview with Jim Blum.

Eamon O'Leary and Jefferson Hamer met in New York while performing traditional Irish music. They discovered a shared love of the old songs - from Ireland and throughout the British Isles. They joined together on an album that became the name of their duo - The Murphy Beds - which O'Leary says is a mystery to their audiences in Ireland. In 2015, the pair visited Saranac Lake, NY for an exclusive Folk Alley Sessions recording to play the traditional music that they have "decorated." Watch video performances and hear an interview with the duo.

We all have people in our lives who inspire us, encourage us, and who push us to dream, hope and create. For musicians Guy Davis and Fabrizio Poggi, two of those inspirations where the great bluesmen, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Earlier in 2017, Davis and Poggi released a tribute album, 'Sonny and Brownie's Last Train' and stopped by Folk Alley for an exclusive in-studio performance and to talk more about two of their musical heroes.

She's a poet, a writer, an artist, an entrepreneur and someone who knows how to use her voice articulately and effectively to encourage great social change. She is Ani DiFranco, a fantastically talented guitarist and a singer who first started making music in coffee shops when she was just 9 years old. Early in 2016, Ani was at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida and she graciously sat down with us to talk about politics, music and everything in between.

When the Indigo Girls dropped by the Folk Alley house during this year’s 30ASongwriters Festival, the duo was gearing up for the release of its 15th album, Look Long. As they played an intimate set that included two new songs and one old fan favorite, the duo had much to say between songs about the new album, their decades of collaboration, their most requested classic, and much more.

At the 2020 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida, with her new album 'Long Way Back: The Songs of Glimmer' on they way, Kim Richey dropped by the Folk Alley house to wrap her smooth vocals around some solo, acoustic versions of songs from her 1999 album, 'Glimmer.' She also talked about the way the songs felt to her then and how they feel now, with 20 more years of life to them.

L.A. born John Craigie discovered beauty in storytelling through music, diving into the folk scene in the grunge-driven '90s. For him, it's about the relationship between singer and audience (so much so that he added a group of friends to his latest studio sessions - creating a house concert vibe). He's something of a neo-hippie, in-name-only Math major who found his true self touring the country with a guitar as his calling card. John stopped by BeeHive Studios in Saranac Lake, NY, to record a few songs from his 2017 'No Rain, No Rose' album exclusively for Folk Alley.

At the end of the day, Vancouver native and banjo player Taylor Ashton says, his new album is “pretty fun.” The Romantic is a record that was 10 years in the making, a record that forced Ashton into the solo spotlight for the very first time in his music career, and a record that is, at its heart, about change. Taylor Ashton joined Folk Alley at the eclectic studio space at The Porches Inn in North Adams, Massachusetts to share some thoughts about the winding road his music has taken him on and to share songs from his debut release.

Kyshona Armstrong was a music therapist before she shifted her focus to pursuing a career in songwriting. Drawing from her background experience of using music as a healing force in people’s lives, the songwriting on Armstrong’s latest album, Listen., is heavy on transcendence and empowerment. During this year’s 30A Songwriters Festival, we talked with Armstrong about all of this and more. Tune in and discover one of Nashville’s finest up-and-coming singer-songwriters.

During the 2020 30A Songwriters Festival, we chatted with the Secret Sisters - Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle - about their latest album, Saturn Return, as they performed some of the album’s finest songs at the Folk Alley beach house.

By the time I spoke with Allison Moorer at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida this January, she had been touring in support of her memoir and accompanying full-length album, 'Blood' for several months and had become accustomed to the way her audiences were inclined to bond with her, across their own traumas. In this Folk Alley Session, we discussed all of this and more, and Moorer also gifted us with some excellent performances of songs from the album.

It’s hard not to throw around words like “prodigious” when talking about someone like Sierra Hull. At just 28 years old, she has already released five albums, worked with many of the biggest names in Nashville, taken home a half-dozen IBMA awards, and earned a Grammy nomination for her sparsely arranged mandolin-and-bass 2017 singer-songwriter album Weighted Mind. So, when one hears her sing about wanting to slow down for a bit after “25 trips around the sun” on the title track of her new album, 25 Trips, one might understand the impulse. Lucky for fans, the new album doesn’t actually slow the gifted mandolinist and songwriter down a bit. During a Folk Alley Session at the 30A Songwriters Festival, we sat down with Hull for a conversation about all of this and more.

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.

From breakups to childhood memories, romantic entanglements and friends in trouble, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin duo Dead Horses (Sarah Vos and Daniel Wolff) tackle anything and everything that comes their way. Recently, they let us in to see how they think about music and musicianship and shared a song from their 2018 release, My Mother the Moon, as well as a couple of new songs for 2019 during an exclusive in-studio session at Beehive Productions Studios in Saranac Lake, NY.

Lula Wiles (Mali Obomsawin, Ellie Buckland, and Isa Burke) were friends for years in their native Maine before coming together, officially, in 2016 in Boston. The trio believes that music has the power to bring out the humanity in all of us. They gathered together at the Upper Jay Arts Center’s Recovery Lounge in Upper Jay, New York to share some songs from their new album, What Will We Do - their first on the Smithsonian Folkways label.

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.

Former Stray Birds frontwoman, Maya de Vitry joined us in the studio to share some eye-opening thoughts about what it really took to put together her debut solo album, Adaptations, during a recent session in Nashville, Tennessee.

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.

What happens when a group of talented musicians get together for a short period of time in a small space with a gigantic wood stove? Musical magic, according to Kris Delmhorst. She talked about this and the making of her 2017 album, 'The Wild' when she and her husband and musical partner, Jeffrey Foucault stopped by Beehive Productions studio for an exclusive Folk Alley Session.

What happens when a group of talented musicians get together for a short period of time in a small space with a gigantic wood stove? Musical magic, according to Kris Delmhorst. She talked about this and the making of her 2017 album, 'The Wild' when she and her husband and musical partner, Jeffrey Foucault stopped by Beehive Productions studio for an exclusive Folk Alley Session.

What happens when a group of talented musicians get together for a short period of time in a small space with a gigantic wood stove? Musical magic, according to Kris Delmhorst. She talked about this and the making of her 2017 album, 'The Wild' when she and her husband and musical partner, Jeffrey Foucault stopped by Beehive Productions studio for an exclusive Folk Alley Session.

What happens when a group of talented musicians get together for a short period of time in a small space with a gigantic wood stove? Musical magic, according to Kris Delmhorst. She talked about this and the making of her 2017 album, 'The Wild' when she and her husband and musical partner, Jeffrey Foucault stopped by Beehive Productions studio for an exclusive Folk Alley Session.

What happens when a group of talented musicians get together for a short period of time in a small space with a gigantic wood stove? Musical magic, according to Kris Delmhorst. She talked about this and the making of her 2017 album, 'The Wild' when she and her husband and musical partner, Jeffrey Foucault stopped by Beehive Productions studio for an exclusive Folk Alley Session.

In order to embrace change and in order to embrace her own voice as a songwriter, Courtney 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. Hartman shares insights into her epic journey - which turned into a new album, Ready Reckoner during our exclusive Folk Alley Session.

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.

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 2017 30A Songwriters Festival to play some songs and talk about this exciting new turn in her life.

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.

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.

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.

Nashville-based songwriter, Mary Bragg joined Folk Alley for a conversation and performance of songs from her album Violets as Camouflage in our pop-up beach house studio at the 2019 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

Steve 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.

In 2013, Amythyst Kiah released 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 album on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Songs of Our Native Daughters. Later in 2019, Kiah releases another new solo album, Weary and Strange, and she shared some of her extraordinary history with us at this year’s 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

Ruthie Foster joined Folk Alley at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida 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.

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. She shared thoughts about the record and music from it during her exclusive session at this year’s 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida.

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.