Young folks focuses on the best, fresh folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk & alt-country jams. Turn it up Folks!
***guêatas aſaqɣ hɣcſcâ=25 (Muisca numerical system)***
Alma Russ
‘Winter’
[country/bluegrass]
Press Notes:
Singer/songwriter out of Western North Carolina, playing “patchwork music”: country, folk, and Appalachian styles pieced together. She enjoys playing guitar, banjo, and fiddle, and was an American Idol Contestant (Season 1 on ABC).
The Krickets
‘These Games’
[americana]
Press Notes:
What happens when the world turns upside down and a quarantine benches a band’s tour? Something magical. They learn to write and record remotely, self-produce some music and then….release it – bells and whistles be damned. With new single, These Games, The Krickets offer a raw, Americana harmony bath with a retro feel meant to be sung at the top of one’s lungs. It’s a small part of a big message from a beloved musical community that nothing’s gonna stop the music.
The Krickets are a female Americana group from the gulf coast who’s music is what Paste Magazine called a “a truly stunning, one-of-a-kind sound.” Two-time winner of a 2016 and 2019 Independent Music Award for Song of the Year in both Folk and Alt Country categories, the band’s music is a genre-bending Americana cocktail steeped in their signature folk harmony. Muscles Shaols producer Ben Tanner of Single Lock Records helped them find this sound on their 2016 debut Spanish Moss Sirens and Nashville’s Sam Ashworth (Joy Williams, Lone Bellow), helped them dive further into it on their 2018 sophomore LP, Redbird. New single, These Games, is a true first for them, fully self-produced and will drop June 5th, 2020.
A portion of proceeds from every album sale benefits the Sacred heart Hospital Guild’s “Cricket Fund” in honor of Cricket Russell (namesake of the band) providing screenings to the uninsured in rural north Florida. The “K” was interchanged to give space to Buddy Holly’s fabulous Crickets.
Julian Taylor
‘Ballad Of A Young Troubadour’
[folk/singer-songwriter]
Press Notes:
Julian Taylor doesn’t fit in a box. He never has—and more power to him. A Toronto music scene staple and a musical chameleon, Julian Taylor is used to shaking it up over the course of 10 albums in the last two decades. Of West Indian and Mohawk descent, Taylor first made his name as frontman of Staggered Crossing, a Canadian rock radio staple in the early 2000s. These days, however, the soulful singer/guitarist might be on stage one night playing with his eponymous band, spilling out electrified rhythm and blues glory, and the next he’ll be performing at a folk festival delivering a captivating solo singer-songwriter set. His songs have been placed in shows like Kim’s Convenience, Haven, Private Eyes and Elementary. He’s been invited to perform at two Olympic Games. The soulful blues, rhythmic soul, rootsy rock riffs and troubadour-esque folk songs that comprise his music are worth putting your busy life on hold for. In everything he does, Taylor has carved his own path, creating genre-free music with a generosity of spirit and a strong belief in the healing powers of song. Off stage, Taylor recently ventured into radio; when the Indigenous radio station ELMNT FM opened in Toronto in 2018, Taylor became the station’s afternoon-drive host.
Taylor’s journey began in a musically artistic family: his father plays classical piano, while his cousins on both sides of his family sing and play music, and his uncle is the conductor of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, which focuses on Afrocentric vocal music. Taylor started piano at age 5 and learned acoustic guitar over summer campfires. In 1995, while still in high school, he formed the band The Midnight Blues and started playing open stages in North Toronto. That band morphed into Staggered Crossing who were signed to a publishing deal in 1997, and their self-titled debut, released in 2001, spawned four rock radio singles, including top 10 hit “Further Again.”
When Staggered Crossing split amicably in 2007, Taylor started anew as a solo artist with two albums of rootsier material, while grinding it out on the cover band circuit in small towns across Ontario. In 2014, he launched the Julian Taylor Band and this time, all bets were off: all of Taylor’s myriad influences were on the table, masterfully combining and updating vintage sounds that inspired him to create bold, innovative new songs. Modern pop, vintage R&B, smooth soul, and the rock’n’roll swagger he was known for, were all tied together with an intense devotion to craft and a collection of some of Toronto’s finest musicians. JTB have three studio albums to date—their acclaimed debut Tech Noir, released in 2014, the double record Desert Star released two years later and 2019’s acclaimed Avalanche—and have no plans to slow down, although in 2020 Taylor revisited his solo career with 2020’s contemplative The Ridge.
Mattias Lies
‘Maze of Blues’
[folk/acoustic]
Press Notes:
Mattias Lies new single “Maze of Blues” is a hymn to the paradoxical awakening of our true selves. The message of the song becomes relevant in this pandemic era as we question our values and beliefs.
Back in 2018 while Mattias was touring in North Carolina he was inspired to write the songs of the new album “Highs & Lows”. Mattias Lies and co-producer Jens Larsson produced the new album and it’s scheduled for release on June 30th 2020.
”The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” These words are usually credited to the acclaimed genius Albert Einstein. Mattias refers to the quote while talking about the new single:
”We’ve created a society where we’re running in a hamster wheel. Our ambitions are too high and prevent us from connecting to a deeper emotional state. We keep forgetting about this but sometimes, just like it occurred to me in the song, a reminder pops up unexpectedly. I believe all dreams convey a certain message from our subconscious mind. My dream revealed a hidden longing to be accepted for who I am. It took a lot of emotional courage because the insight required me to leave the past behind and to be open and vulnerable. I strive to keep it this way but too much work makes me dizzy I guess.”
Through the years the music of Mattias Lies has received a lot of attention from Swedish radio stations and television channels. If you’re lucky enough to have experienced Mattias Lies live, then you’ll definitely want to see him again. And if you haven’t caught the act yet – get out there, you’re missing something special!
Noah Reid
‘American Roads’
[americana]
Press Notes:
Toronto born Noah Reid is known mostly for his work on television, film and stage. It wasn’t until recently that the world got a glimpse of his serious musical talent.
In 2015, Reid was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in the feature film “People Hold On”. In 2017, Reid’s soulful acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s pop hit “The Best” on CBC’s Schitt’s Creek cracked #3 on the iTunes Canada Charts. That directed fans all over the world to Reid’s 2016 debut solo album “Songs From A Broken Chair”. With a songwriting style that touches on the singer-songwriters of the seventies and an honest, contemporary delivery, Reid is a combination of old and new, of polished and rusted over. A second studio album is underway, produced by Matthew Barber.
Maebh
‘Fingertips’
[folk/experimental]
Press Notes:
Maebh is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in the Lake District. Influenced by playing fiddle in her youth, Maebh’s music is folk-inflected, flooded with layers of harmony and always with an element of improvisation.
After studying experimental electronic composition at university, Maebh’s interests have gone on to writing pop music and composing for film. The resulting style is intricate and hard to define, and her songs are captivatingly sensitive and original.
While living in Glasgow, Maebh worked with Joe McAlinden (of Scottish label Single Track) on the coast of Argyll to release two tracks, Dreaming All Along (2019) and Fingertips. Written in conjunction, these songs stem from the same piano motif.
Lindley Creek
‘I Gotta Go’
[country/bluegrass]
Press Notes:
Lindley Creek’s musical roots are strong, stemming from the Ozark Hills’ rich legacy of music. But, this family and their unique and personal brand of Acoustic music isn’t just about where the art form has been … it’s very much about where it is going.
Lindley Creek is a full-time touring band from Missouri that travels across the U.S. and Canada.
DG Solaris
‘Spirit Glow’
[indie folk]
Press Notes:
DG Solaris, is the new band from Danny Green, leader of cult indie band, ‘Laish’, and features his partner, LG.
Debut album, ‘Spirit Glow’ (out 19th June 2020) was written during a trip in Peru and recorded at Bella Union Studios, expect shimmering 70s synth-led, psychedelic folk pop. FFO Vampire Weekend, Here We Go Magic, Beach House.
At radio, lead songwriter Danny Green’s previous band, ‘Laish’, have received BBC 6Music plays and positive comments from Marc Riley, Steve Lamacq (‘This is a great pop record’ ), Dermot O’Leary, Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Chris Hawkins (‘Favourite new song of the week’), Bethan Elfyn (‘A wonderful sound to this record’), Tom Robinson (‘Beautiful and hypnotic’), Don Letts, The Late Junction and Roddy Hart.
Kyle Anne
‘Cathedral Lake’
[folk]
Press Notes:
Kyle Anne Duggan is an accomplished singer-songwriter and performer. She studied Songwriting at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, with voice as her principle instrument.
Kyle Anne currently resides in Southwest Florida, where she actively performs all around the Fort Myers and Naples area, including The Norris Center, Mercato Naples, The Sydney Berne Davis Art Center, The Ranch Concert Hall and Saloon, and various local establishments and venues of varying size. She was a featured performer and organizer of Babefest 2016, a music festival that features female musicians curated by Love Your Rebellion, a local feminist collective who she is actively involved with. She also performed at Naples Baconfest 2016, where she opened for country superstars Brooke Eden and Love & Theft. Her music has been featured on local radio stations, WGCU Gulf Coast Live (a division of NPR News) as well as chart-topping podcasts such as the feminist anti-slut shaming podcast Guys We F**ked. She participated in and won a slew of local songwriting competitions, notably Ghostbird Theatre Company’s 24 Hour Art Challenge and The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center’s 2018 Summer Songwriting Competition. She shared the stage with numerous hit songwriters when she played at BMI’s Island Hopper Songwriting Festival in 2018, and continues to play with a wide range of touring and local musicians. She’s played shows with touring musicians Lung, Ellisa Sun, Band of Heathens, Mountain Holler, The West King String Band, Surfer Blood, and The Eli Young Band, and hopes to play as many shows as possible in the future. Her debut full length album Eulogy was released in November 2019.
Diane Cluck
‘The Power of Allowing and Receiving’
[folk/singer-songwriter/intuitive]
Press Notes:
Intuitive folk singer-songwriter based in Charlottesville, VA.
Compiled by: Christos Doukakis