Young folks focuses on the best, fresh folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk & alt-country jams. Turn it up Folks!

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The Flat Nasty

‘The Worse Things Get’

[country/pop-rock]

Press Notes:

The Flat Nasty arrived in 2020 with its promising debut single “Not Every Day’s a Country Song,” which tips its hat to the long history of sad songs in the genre. In its second single, “The Worst Things Get,” TFN showcases its more rollicking side with a COVID-era anthem about embracing life in the face of disaster. The band grew out of a songwriting and production partnership between Mark W. Hornburg and Doug Jervey, who’ve been joined by musicians Lucas Villalobos, Stefan Chippeaux, Devon Miller, Lee Weingartner, and Gabe Horn, and vocalists Clayton Davis, Logan Winkles, and Amber Michel. TFN promises to make a splash with upcoming releases including the pop-country earworm “Take It That Way” and the sultry ballad “You Do You.”

Jillie Kerwin

‘One of These Days’

[country/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

Hey y’all, thanks for comin by! My name is Jillie, I’m a Dallas, Texas native, and singing and songwriting are my favorite things to do. I’ve been doing both pretty much all my life but, over the year 2020, I moved to Nashville and have begun a new journey of writing with others, learning about myself through studying my heroes, and finding my sound and style in the Country/Folk/Americana space. I’ve been working on my debut EP “One of These Days” for some time now, and I’ve never been more excited to share with you the songs that were created and perfected over the past few year and have been in my heart for a while now!

Jesse Powers

‘Love Song of Everything’

[folk/acoustic/pop]

Press Notes:

Jesse Powers is a self-proclaimed “conscious indie-pop” musician based in Columbus, Ohio. Her perceptive and penetrating lyricism, tumbling vocal stylings, and powerhouse pop melodies combine to create a unique but oh-so-catchy sound that entertains and profoundly awakens those who listen. Her music has been described as “Real, raw, down to the heart” and “Like emotional surgery.”

Neil Nathan

‘The Guardrail’

[americana]

Press Notes:

Since emerging in 2008 with his folky cover of ELO’s “Do Ya” – which earned the praise of rock legend, Jeff Lynne and was included on the Showtime hit “Californication” – the multi-faceted artist Neil Nathan (neilnathan.com) has made an art form of genre bending record making, jumping seamlessly from blistering rock to intimate ethereal folk.

Praised by UK music and film magazine No Ripcord, as “the bastard stepchild of Jackson Browne and David Bowie,” Neil recorded his debut LP, The Distance Calls in Detroit Rock City. Produced by Garage Rock Hero Bobby Harlow (King Tuff, The Go), it featured musicians from Raconteurs, Queens of the Stone Age, The Go, King Tuff, and Detroit Cobras. The album’s track “California Run” was featured on ESPN and NHL Network, and was spun live at San Francisco Giants games. Actress Rosario Dawson, guest starred in the music video.

Neil’s fiery follow-up, the power to the people concept LP, ‘Sweep The Nation,’ earned critical praise as a “scintillating master work” and a “crunchy hard rocking masterpiece,” and was called “Impressive” by both Magnet Magazine and Vinyl District. Huffington Post called his claymation “Jumpstart” music video from the record, “a bizarre good time.”

Neil recently recorded three rockers in Texas with Joey Mcclellan and Mckenzie Smith (Elle King, St. Vincent, Midlake) and is currently recording multiple Americana/Country Rocking LP’s & EP’s in Philadelphia w/ Mike Slo-Mo Brenner (Wild Pink, Magnolia Electric Company).

Matt Moody

‘I Don’t Mind’

[americana/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

I grew up in Cleveland, OH. A grey town most of the year, but beautiful when the sun hits it. A melancholia that has inevitably made its way into my music. I now live and am based out of Los Angeles, CA.

I’ve drawn from many influences over the years, worn many hats in the industry, and have had my fair share of failures, but what’s life without f*cking up a few good times? Things are really starting to come full circle for me, and now more than ever, I’m staying focused on what’s important: making honest art.

I’m currently at work on a self-produced concept album. It’ll be my largest project to date and what I feel is the most genuine expression I’ve created thus far. Singles from the album should be expected starting in 2021.

Mary McGuinness

‘Some Men’

[americana/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

Mary McGuinness was born in Killeen, Texas and grew up in several parts of the world including Ft. Hood, Texas, Korea, and Long Island, NY with her Grandparents. She began singing opera and graduated from the Manhattan School of Music to later perform on Broadway. Mary then started writing her own songs, and has recorded four albums, under another project. She has toured throughout the US, and supported acts as diverse as TRAIN, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Shawn Colvin, Todd Rundgren, Rusted Root, Gavin DeGraw and the Counting Crows. Presently, she makes her home in Los Angeles.

“Some artists are talented, sound good & are entertaining. Yet, what they lack is creativity, originality, & a certain amount of magic that makes them at the least—interesting. I received this latest vinyl LP (Prodigal) & when I placed the phono cartridge (needle) down on the groove I was pleasantly surprised to discover an exhilirating vocal–sprung from an old world seed.” -John Apice, Americana Highways

Jon Patrick Walker

‘Auto-Tune My Love’

[country/americana]

Press Notes:

A highly respected actor appearing on Television, in Film, and on Broadway (most recently playing King George on the National Tour of Hamilton to raves), Jon has increasingly turned his creative energies to songwriting and recording, an early passion sidelined by his acting career until the death of his mother provoked a mid-life reassessment of priorities. Since his debut LP, 2013’s “The Guilty Party,” he has put out two records co-produced with the Grammy-nominated Josh Kaufman (2016’s “People Going Somewhere” and 2018’s “You & I”), the self-produced and critically lauded demo collection “Welcome to the Edge Times” in 2019, and last year, the lockdown home studio EP, “The Great Unravelling!” His latest, “The Rented Tuxedo & Other Songs” is an eclectic and beautifully arranged 9-track collection of originals made in Nashville with co-producer Roger Moutenot (the haunting title-track was recorded with local musicians in Memphis at Sun Studio while JP was touring with Hamilton). The record features an array of brilliant musicians (including Pete Finney on pedal steel, drummer Russ Pollard, Eric Fritsch on sitar and vibes and Kirby Sybert on guitars and keys) and reveals Walker at the height of his creative powers. Jon is currently writing a comedic rock musical called “The Devil & Doctor Faust” and working on material for his next record. He lives in Los Angeles and Brooklyn with his wife, the actress Hope Davis, their two daughters, and their dog, Jennie.

Astronomers of the Strange

’40 Year Waltz’

[folk/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

Astronomers of the Strange is a brand new Los Angeles-based band. Their music exists at the intersection of indie, folk, pop, jazz and lo-fi. They draw inspiration from the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, whether in music, nature, or human networks. Creating music is like putting together a puzzle, except you have to invent the pieces as you go. It’s exhilarating, challenging and therapeutic, and if it resonates with others then it can become something beyond words. We do not know our musical future, but we hope it expands and connects in strange and delightful ways.

Charles Wesley Godwin

‘Lyin’ Low’

[americana/country]

Press Notes:

A native of West Virginia, Charles Wesley Godwin makes cinematic country-folk that’s as gorgeous and ruggedly raw as his homeland. It’s Appalachian Americana, rooted in Godwin’s sharp songwriting and backwoods baritone. With 2021’s How the Mighty Fall, he trades the autobiographical lyrics that filled Seneca — his acclaimed debut, released in 2019 and celebrated by everyone from Rolling Stone to NPR’s Mountain Stage — for a collection of character-driven songs about mortality, hope, and regret, putting an intimate spin on the universal concerns we all share.

Those realizations quickly found their way into his writing. If Seneca painted the picture of a southern son in the middle of American coal country, then How the Mighty Fall — produced once again by Al Torrence — zooms out to focus on wider themes of time, transience, and the choices we make. Songs like “Strong” “Bones” and “Blood Feud” are roadhouse roots-rockers, driven forward by fiery fiddle, lap steel and plenty of electric guitar. Godwin does most of his painting with more subtle shades, though, often waiting until How the Mighty Fall‘s softer moments to make his biggest impact. On “Cranes of Potter,” he delivers a murder ballad with finger-plucked acoustic guitar and elegiac melodies, unspooling the narrative with a storyteller’s restraint. Meanwhile, “Temporary Town” finds him returning to West Virginia after spending five years in the midwest, celebrating his homecoming not with barely-contained enthusiasm, but with measured excitement, light percussion, and a steadily-building arrangement.

Constant Follower

‘Weave of the World’

[indie folk/chamber pop]

Press Notes:

The band’s debut album Neither is, nor ever was was borne out of a respect for change, and the inevitable passing of time that frightens, comforts and humbles every one of us. It is a haunting testimonial to the temporary joys and fleeting moments that define the human experience. Co-produced by Scottish singer-songwriter Stephen McAll and renowned producer and Shimmy-Disc founder Kramer (Low, Galaxie 500, Will Oldham), the recording for Neither Is, Nor Ever Was began in early 2020 at La Chunky studios in Glasgow with engineer Johnny Smillie. This was interrupted by the birth of McAll’s daughter (if you listen closely, her cries are just audible during some of Kessi’s backing vocals on ‘Little Marble’), and shortly afterwards by Covid 19 restrictions. McAll began recording the rest at his own CFFC studio in Stirling. The resulting recordings were then mixed and mastered by Kramer at his Noise Miami Studio, to breathtaking effect.

Photo Credits: William Sturgell

Compiled by: Christos Doukakis