Young folks focuses on the best, fresh folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk & alt-country jams. Turn it up Folks!
Marilyn Jordan
‘River Water’
[americana/acoustic]
Press Notes:
Marilyn Jordan’s debut album, “Both Things Are True” (Release date: March 3rd, 2023) gathers ten songs written over ten years while raising children and trying to find the light through the rain. Songs of women trying to survive and shine, women who’ve traveled bittersweet, winding paths, intent on keeping their own sparks glowing anyway. Growing up in rural Oregon, Jordan explored the countryside in the rain, climbed oak trees, and read books from the Carnegie library — when she wasn’t making up songs on her parents’ hundred-year-old piano. Coming of age, she saw first-hand some of the tragedies that life can deliver, which expanded her understanding of the myriad challenges that comprise the human condition. As she gained gratitude, patience, and compassion, these experiences started to show up as themes in her songs, joining with her love of place and character-driven storytelling.
Marthe Halvorsen
‘Dissolve’
[indie folk/acoustic]
Press Notes:
Marthe Halvorsen is a Montreal based Norwegian artist, songwriter and producer who weaves together dreamy evocative Indie Folk Music. Her debut album All is in the Seed was released in 2018, receiving great acclaim around the world. Several of the songs from her album made it on to Norwegian National Radio as well as CBC Radio in Canada where her music is continuing to get airplay. With a unique sincerity in her voice Marthe Halvorsen has a special ability to touch something deep inside the listener.
Having grown up in Arctic Norway, nature has always been an important source of inspiration in her music. The spaciousness and the raw unpolished landscapes of the north can be traced in her sense of songwriting and taste in music production. With a love for a minimalistic and an unpolished sound, Marthe seeks to write songs that carry an intention and that comes from an authentic place within herself. Emerging out of the blooming music scene of Montreal, Marthe Halvorsen is currently in the process of finishing her sophomore album, to be released later this year. On her new album the Norwegian artist has been diving deeper into the producer role, crafting and perfecting her very own characteristic sound.
Will Pope
‘Great Dark Leaps’
[indie folk/slowcore]
Press Notes:
Will Pope is a folk artist from Rotherham, UK whose debut release “Stormy Seas” recieved acclaim from the likes of Mahogany and Alexrainbird music. Having been declared The Soundsniffer’s One to Watch for 2023 he has continued to release a wave of new material which has been well-recieved appearing on official Spotify playlists like “Fresh on Friday” growing in thousands of streams. His signature style originates from a love of Chet Atkins fingerstyle guitar modernised by contemporary folk acts The Tallest Man on Earth and Luke De-Sciscio and a vocal style like that of Jeff Buckley stemming from a love of rock and soul. His debut release “Burying Giants” of which “Stormy Seas” is part is the culmination of years of hard work, shaped by the Beijing music scene (Axis Neptune / Su Zixu + The Paramecia / Clustercuss) and artists and musicians Pope has collaborated with along the way.
Pastor B 27
‘The Prayer Song’
[Christian music/folk rock]
Press Notes:
“If you understand someone giving their life to GOD and saying ‘here is my life LORD, do what you want with it” then you will understand why I am making music at this point in my life. If you don’t understand this, then you will join in the MANY others that criticize every song I’ve pitched with, ‘just a word of advice, go back to the drawing board.’ It is not about whether I have talent, the equipment, the resources, or the financing to keep up with other Christian artists. It’s simply about a guy who was as good as dead 17 years ago that promised GOD he would love (obey) Him with all of his heart. That is what you will find with every note, every release, every single, if you have wisdom and understanding. I am just a guy making music ‘because GOD told me to.’-Pastor B 27
Romain Gutsy
‘Lany’
[folk/vocal jazz]
Press Notes:
Romain Gutsy is a French-born singer-songwriter and a musician who started his career in the 90s, singing and playing accordion with French bands such as Les Affamés, or guitar in the Celtic band Daffy Plays Mandola, as well as playing with more famous artists such as the Grammy award winner alt-Rock band, Soul Asylum, or American singer, Calvin Russel.
Dillon Campbell
‘Save Yourself’
[folk rock]
Press Notes:
Dillon Campbell is the son of the legendary performer Glen Campbell. He lives in Nashville, TN and writes and performs music all throughout the US.
St. Catherine’s Child
‘Every Generation’
[folk/americana]
Press Notes:
St. Catherine’s Child is the pet project of transatlantic singer-songwriter Ilana Zsigmond.
Born in England to musical parents, Ilana spent the majority of her childhood in New Haven, Connecticut, bouncing back and forth between continents as her parents toured. After settling back in the UK in 2015, she has formed a band that reflects the Americana aesthetic that surrounded her throughout her childhood with the articulation and dry-wit of her British sensibilities.
Mighty Joe Castro and the Gravamen
‘Embers in the Ash’
[country/americana/rockabilly]
Press Notes:
Based out of Philadelphia, PA, Ameripolitan rockabilly outfit, Mighty Joe Castro & The Gravamen is the latest musical project from accomplished collage artist and musician Joe Castro (ex-The Situation, The Lift Up). Influenced by 50’s Rock and Roll and infused with post modern Easter eggs cribbed from old episodes of MTV’s 120 Minutes, Mighty Joe Castro takes a modern, lyric driven approach to songwriting while The Gravamen layer on Jesus and Mary Chain-cover-Link Wray guitar atmosphere, booming doghouse bass and swinging beats. The quartet lurks at a crossroads where Sun Records and Creation Records meet.
According to Joe Castro: “Our goal is to play original rock-n-roll, in the style of the pioneers, but update it lyrically and sonically. Take what we’ve learned, everything great that’s come after and go apply it to that original sound. What if Buddy Holly had access to a stack of effects pedals and some Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds records? That’s the ethos of the band.”
The Gravamen were formed in 2017 after doghouse bassist H00V3r reached out to Castro about working together. H00V3r enlisted Dallas, his band mate in Philadelphia punk rock stalwarts Thorazine, to play drums and later found hot-shot lead guitarist Michael Stingle floating around Mount Airy. The full band held its first practice together in January 2018 and shortly after recorded their debut EP, Wake Up, You’re Rockin’! in May 2018. They released their debut full length album, “Come On Angels” on July 31, 2020. It was recorded at Miner Street Recordings and produced by Brian McTear (Sharon Van Etten, Dr Dog, Dead Milkmen).
Influences include Sun Records, Stray Cats, The Cramps, Hillbilly Moon Explosion, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos combined with elements of punk and shoegaze with a lyrical influence of Morrissey, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Bob Dylan.
Gregory Rhodes
‘The Dearly Departed’
[folk rock/psych]
Press Notes:
Gregory Rhodes is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and producer based in Alaska. His first solo album, The Dearly Departed and the Recently Returned, was released by Evening Sun Records in March 2023. Narratively, the album follows a refracted hero’s journey into the underworld, splintered into multiple personas. Beginning with the elegiac first track, “The Dearly Departed,” it depicts a lifetime in reverse, ending with “The Recently Returned” as a rebirth into a strange new consciousness.
The album encompasses a blend of sonic influences drawing from a wide range of genres, from 1970s acoustic rock, to 1960s minimalism, lo-fi experimental alternative, and orchestral classical music, as his lyrics drive deep into an emotional psyche, exploring hidden worlds, shifting narratives, archetypal imagery, and religious longing.
The album was recorded in Anchorage, where Rhodes functioned as recording engineer, producer, and performer—he played every instrument on the album. Rhodes teamed up with audio engineer Geoff Stanfield who mixed the album in Seattle. It was mastered by Ed Brooks of Resonant Mastering in Seattle. The cover artwork for Rhodes’s album and singles was created by his wife, artist Cat Lindquist-Rhodes.
Sonic Sovereign
‘Interwined’
[country/rock]
Press Notes:
Detroit rock band Sonic Sovereign is the birth child of classic 70’s rock, 90’s alt grunge, and the familiar acoustic writing style of Tom Petty. Led by lead singer and grammy nominated vocalist and award winning songwriter Joshua L. Schmidt, lead guitarist Mike Lucca, and drummer Tony Monteleone, Sonic Sovereign creates an amazing fusion of rock mastery that feels like the glory days of Rock long since past.
[All Press Notes provided by the artists]
Compiled by: Christos Doukakis