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

***qhicħâ shûʒhâ=18 (Muisca numerical system)***

Mark Harrell

‘Yellow Ridge’

[indie folk]

Press Notes:

Based out of Holland, MI, Mark Harrell uses his music to unpack the human experience. Growing up as the 6th of 9 children, and falling in love with music and film at a young age, Mark learned that we all have stories to tell. He hopes to connect those stories to sound through the lyrically driven indie folk that he writes.

In a short period of time, Mark Harrell has become a staple of the west Michigan music community. His album, Bluebirds (2018), has been nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album at Michigan’s “Jammie Awards” and was picked as local/regional album of the year by the publication Local Spin’s. Now, Harrell is backed by Hundred Star Hotel featuring Jake Kalmink (Further Closer / Fever Haze), Jonathan Fegel (Supersounds), and Joshua Rabine-Johnson (Echo Armonia). As a multi-instrumental band, they explore Harrell’s nuanced lyrics through a newfound dynamic – embracing alternative country and americana.

Kahnin

‘Daystar’

[americana/acoustic]

Press Notes:

Kahnin is based out of Keflavik, Iceland, Singer-Songwriter Gudmundur Jens Gudmundsson, simply known as Kahnin, contains a swell of tumultuous strength in his music, an unapologetic wisdom about life, and a longing in his voice that is mystifying to the listener.

Throughout his life, Kahnin has always been writing music as an escape from his everyday life. Spending years out at sea as a commercial fisherman in Iceland and Alaska, he now uses that part of his life as the inspirational backdrop to create his own music and story.

Married and a father of two beautiful girls, in 2017, a friend of his recommended that Kahnin do something with all the songs he’s written out at sea. The outcome was a 5-song EP, recorded in the summer of 2018 by Arthur Pingrey, along with Leah Siegel (vocals) and Eric Doob (drums) in Brooklyn, NYC, with “Wonderland” being the first single to be released from the EP in Late March of 2019. Kahnin is still writing songs, and new material is on the horizon.

JAIALAI

‘Healthy Glass’

[folk/psych]

Press Notes:

Jaialai is an American Rock band from Miami, FL, formed in 2016. Its members are Jose Adames (Guitar/Synth), Richard Boullon (Drums), Mario Lemus (Bass) and Oscar Sardiñas (Guitar and vocals). The band recently released three singles “Hold the Phone”, “In the Catacombs” and “Sunshine” leading up to their first full-length album “Say So” which was released in May 2019 under the new indie label Public Works Records.

Their sound tends to lean toward shoegaze and has some garage rock undertones; their goal is to recreate a live feel in their records. With members of the band from Venezuela, El Salvador and of Cuban heritage, hints of their respective backgrounds and their local Miami culture show in their music and art.

Strom Mccallum

‘Darling’

[folk/country]

Press Notes:

The second single from aspiring singer songwriter and all around dashing dandy Strom Mccallum from his upcoming LP. It was recorded in Charleston SC at Truphonic Studios with master engineer Vlado Meller. It’s a fun vibey song that summons warmer times even when its cold outside.

Chris Capaldi

‘The Long Winter’ 

[americana/country]

Press Notes:

Chris Capaldi is a Rhode Island based singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer. His carefully crafted and heartfelt songs have been likened to artists like Bruce Springsteen and bands like The War on Drugs and The Wallflowers. Chris’s latest release “Frequency” features four Rock/Americana tunes laced with guitar solos, harmonies and a talented band of collaborators.

His 2018 release “Far From Here” was nominated for Best Americana Album by Motif Music magazine and received positive reviews and press.

Chris earned his degree in Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and currently serves on the performing arts faculty at The Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island.

Floyd Thursby

‘The day my best friend died’

[folk]

Press Notes:

The alter-ego of Melbourne, Australia-based film composer, singer and guitarist Paul Gillett, Floyd Thursby has been recording and releasing his original songs since 2005.

The child of award-winning poet Ross Gillett and successful author Melanie Guile, Gillett’s musical career started with the release of his first album in 1999 by the Ang Fang Quartet, an ensemble devoted to the performance of original music for silent films, live in the cinema. The Quartet released two further albums (Nosferatu, 2001; Anonymity, 2003).

Thursby’s debut 2005 self-titled EP, recorded with funding from Arts Victoria, received strong support from Melbourne’s RRR. Thursby’s critically-acclaimed debut album ‘A Thief’s Journal’, produced by Marty Brown (Art of Fighting, Clare Bowditch), was released in 2007 on Ang Fang Industries through MGM.

In 2008 Gillett formed the French gypsy jazz quartet La Mauvaise Réputation, with whom he sings vocals (in French) and plays rhythm guitar. The group has released two albums (Tours Eiffel en Plastique, 2011; Bad Reputation, 2014.

Thursby’s second album ‘Sinatra’s Bones’, recorded by Neil Thomason at Head Gap, was released in 2013.

In 2016 he composed the score to the Australian feature film ‘The Death & Life of Otto Bloom’ (d. Cris Jones) and a soundtrack album was released the following year. The compilation album ‘Selected Works 2003-2011’, featuring acoustic re-interpretations of previously released tracks, was also out in 2017.

He has performed at festivals and events across Australia, including Port Fairy Folk Festival, Cygnet Folk Festival, Blue Mountains Music Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, Palm Creek Folk Festival, Mossvale Music Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Brisbane Festival, National Gallery of Victoria, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and on ABC Radio National’s The Music Show. International touring has taken him to USA, UK, Europe, the Caucusus, China and South-East Asia.

Gillett has worked full time as a musician since 2017. A new Floyd Thursby album ‘To those in flames’ (Ang Fang Industries), produced by Marty Brown, is due for release mid-2019.

Wolf & Crow

‘Midnight’ – Radio Edit

[indie folk]

Press Notes:

Wolf & Crow is a neo-folk duo out of San Francisco, CA. Their music shares characteristics with folk figures like Nick Drake and Simon & Garfunkel with strong style influences from spirituals and roots blues. They describe their sound as cinematic folk for its film score instrumentation, spacious tempos, and vivid lyrical narrative.

A shared obsession for musicology, film, history, and design between them, Mathieu “Wolf” and Zachary “Crow” have been friends and musical partners since 2002. They attended high school in San Francisco, where they first met, and played together in several full-ensemble music projects before scaling down to focus on a single conceptual vision.

Jarle Skavhellen

‘Lion’

[folk/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

The young Norwegian musician showed up, seemingly out of the blue with the gorgeous song “The Ghost In Your Smile” in 2016. His timeless folk sound cut through all the algorithms, made it to all the right streaming playlists, and in a short time the song generated millions of streams and attention from music lovers around the world.

Skavhellen signed to International label Nettwerk, who then released his stunning debut album, also titled The Ghost In Your Smile in 2018. The record made waves with international music press, Clash calling him “a truly timeless songwriter.” Jarle was named one of the most exciting new artists to come out of the country by major Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet.

Nettwerk reached out to the legendary Tucker Martine (My Moning Jacket, The Decemberists) who was both impressed and excited about Jarle’s songs. So, he cleared space in his calendar, and Jarle made it over to his MC Club turned recording studio in Portland, Oregon and recorded a handful of new songs over an intensive and inspiring period.

Kendra & the Bunnies

‘Silent Sleeper’

[folk/singer-songwriter]

Press Notes:

Kendra Muecke is a singer/songwriter, writer, actress, model, and published author performing musically as a solo act under the name “Kendra & the Bunnies”. Based in Los Angeles and born in Houston Texas, her mission is to create art that reflects society’s positive aspects back onto itself, causing a ripple effect that expands as it is heard. Her intention is to share healing via collaborative experience and understanding through performance. She is for the peaceful gathering of community through means of song, voice, and action; improving the planet one note & one poem at a time. Through music, Kendra & the Bunnies combines song, spoken word, theatrical staging, and healing ritual to transpose the audience into a mystical-surrender of now.

Kendra & the Bunnies’ sound combines the musical notes of singing, poetry, guitar (electric and acoustic), percussion, medicine drum, and electronic samples. Kendra has self-titled her genre “Celtic Americana’ that chants from the valleys of Folk, Western-Rock, and New-School Blues”. This brings the listener into thinking about where the roots of folk-americana were founded. There is a lot of storytelling prevalent in the creation and continuation of our country, the key is recognizing what stories we as a society cling to and why.

Jodie Nicholson

‘I Must Be Dreaming’

[indie folk]

Press Notes:

Jodie said, “I Must Be Dreaming is based upon someone you’d call ‘the light of the room’ and more-so how it feels to be drawn, be it romantically or platonically, to this person and their energy. The music video plays upon the lyric ‘your side of the sun’ and the concept of being in orbit around this person.”

Her ethereal tracks have already picked up support from tastemakers at BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio and AlexRainBird, as well as features for respected blogs and magazines such as Tom Robinson’s Fresh On The Net, NARC. Magazine, Give It A Spin and Mystic Sons.

Live, Jodie has performed across the north for Sofar Sounds, as well headlining numerous regional venues and supporting the likes of She Drew The Gun, Cattle & Cane and Harri Endersby at sold-out shows.

Catch Jodie Nicholson live over the coming weeks and months:

• 7th March – GRL at BaseCamp, Middlesbrough
• 28th March – NXTGN, Teesside University w/ Roe, Indian Queens & more
• 11th April – Stockton Calling w/ Sophie and The Giants, Tom Joshua & more
• 25th April – Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough w/ Martha Hill
• 3rd May – Hit The North, Newcastle w/ The DMA’s, Fickle Friends & more
• 6th June – Long Division, Wakefield w/ The Futureheads, Lanterns On The Lake & more

Compiled by: Christos Doukakis