Young folks focuses on the best, fresh folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk & alt-country jams. Turn it up Folks!
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Derek Luttrell
‘Agents Of Apathy’
[folk/singer-songwriter/power pop]
Press Notes:
Derek Luttrell is the kind of guy you want your daughter to date. He signed to Corporate Panda Records in 2020, and then the pandemic happened. Coincidence? Probably not. On the surface he may look like a serial killer, but the only thing this man slays… is our expectations of what an indie-folk rocker can be. His songs feel like they were influenced by John Prine, Harry Nilsson, and Steve Earle, while still sounding completely unique in both the writing and instrumentals.
Derek’s debut album on Corporate Panda Records was out on October 23rd, 2020.
Skittish
‘Car Crash Companion’
[folk rock]
Press Notes:
The 7th album from Minnesota folk-rockers Skittish is a textured folk rock masterpiece on living and losing in the Trump era.
In 2018, Noller temporarily stepped back from life on the road and went to graduate school in Savannah for film sound.
“Dive bars were replaced with classrooms, and my days started at 8am. Yeah, it was a bit of an adjustment,” Noller says of his time in Savannah.
One thing that didn’t change was the desire to make music. He began using the school’s studio after hours to record songs he had written since arriving in the ‘Hostess City of the South.’
“I lived in a small apartment with thin walls, so I had been writing soft little acoustic songs I could whisper-sing to myself instead of doing homework.”
Eventually, these became the tracks on Skittish’s 7th album “Savannah Sessions.” Local Savannah musicians lent their talent.
“I met a busker in Forsyth Park who absolutely crushed anything on the violin. I managed to sneak in classmates who could sing and drum to fill out a few songs as well.”
Soon after graduate school ended, the Covid-19 quarantine started.
“It has given me time to mix the songs and indulge my introverted ways. Spending a lot of time on your own, whether self-inflicted or quarantined, its only natural to turn inward. I never want to stop questioning and poking at assumptions. There are tools like therapy and psychedelics that can help you discover more about yourself and your place in this world. Music is another one of these tools. Its an instrument of empathy that helps you connect. If I can’t hang out with you in person and spend all night talking tangents, then at least I can reach out with this record.”
For those that are unsure of their place in this world, there will always be Skittish to keep you company.
Jenny Mayhem
‘Slow Burn’
[folk/singer-songwriter]
Press Notes:
Jen Mahon (aka Jenny Mayhem) makes honest, relatable pop songs about her high hopes and small worries. Her songs have been featured in multiple television series including MTV’s ‘Ex on the Beach’ and Hulu’s ‘Dollface.’ Mahon also writes and performs in the dance music genre as Nina Carr, an alias whose releases have amassed over 10 million streams.
Born and raised in Barbados, Jenny’s Caribbean upbringing comes through in sunny, dub-inspired tracks like ‘Pickup Boy,’ but her lyrics tell stories forged in the live music and dating scene of downtown Toronto.
Native
‘Everything Uncovered’
[indie folk]
Press Notes:
In times of digital self-optimization, it is almost refreshing when an artist seems to limit himself to the essential and essential and lets his music speak for itself much more than putting his own person in the foreground.
You don’t learn much about Native on the net. He was born in Switzerland and spent the last years in places like Los Angeles, Berlin, London and Zurich. His real name: unknown. Native focuses on his art and lets his deep and mysterious music speak for itself. “I don’t talk much about the meaning of my songs and I don’t try to explain them,” explains the songwriter. For Native, his songs must speak for themselves. “In a way, it’s not so much what they mean to me, but what they say and mean to the listener,” he adds.
The music of Native Music lives from the contrasts. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, fragile or passionate. With his unique singing style and an instinct for raw and honest emotion, Native creates songs that breathe a life of their own. Influenced by artists like Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver.
Luna Harley
‘Spring in Eden’
[folk/chamber pop]
Press Notes:
This is Luna Harley. A 24-year-old singer-songwriter who resides in The Netherlands, of English descent. Luna’s self styled “acoustic cinematic lo-fi” provides a basis for a distinctive soundscape that embraces each lyrical concept. She forms it in ambient film; with acoustic guitars, warm synths, orchestral strings, and soft pianos.
Cf Watkins
‘Dogwood’
[country/americana]
Press Notes:
Cf Watkins is ready to sing about other kinds of love. Having made a conscious effort to write toward themes of empowerment, the title track of her latest album, Babygirl, is both a coming of age story and an ode to female friendship. “Romances have come in and out of my life,” says Cf Watkins, “but through it all, the relationships that continue to open my heart the most are grounded in the women I’ve known.”
Based in Brooklyn for the past nine years, Watkins’ Americana-Pop style embodies the influences of her North Carolina roots. Watkins, who’s performed since the age of fourteen, has shared the stage with acts like Langhorne Slim, Future Birds, Chatham County Line, Wilder Maker, Lowland Hum, and Alpenglow. Her forthcoming LP, Babygirl, melds folk and country references with contemporary pop, fitting her alongside artists like Jennah Bell, Julia Jacklin, and Sharon Van Etten.
Rube & Rake
‘Crying’
[bluegrass/americana]
Press Notes:
After working together for the past five years, Josh Sandu and Andrew Laite have fused an intimate musical connection that comes across in each performance. Every song has a story behind it. Whether it’s the acceptance that there are loved ones you’ll never see again, the memories you make hitchhiking on highways with no town in sight, or a series of natural disasters, there is a definite stamp of “Canadiana” on their music.
Often described as a darker Simon and Garfunkel, Rube & Rake engage audiences with a mixture of stories, intricate guitar work, and rich vocal harmonies. Their music is an exercise in creating something beyond the sum of their parts.
Sail West
‘Future’
[indie folk]
Press Notes:
Nathaniel and Heather Johnson have both been writing songs since childhood. Their shared love of music brought them together and they founded Sail West in 2015 with the help of producer/songwriter Jeremy Oliveria. They have performed with artists such as Bryson Foster, Combe, and Grammy-nominated songwriter Ryan Stevenson. Shortly after releasing their first single “Lead Me” in 2016, they stepped away to start their family and to become more invested in their community. In June 2020 they released their first EP “Those Days Were Numbered.”
South for Winter
‘Stone’
[folk/acoustic]
Press Notes:
Nashville-based trio South for Winter blends folk, blues, and gypsy jazz into a distinctive sound united by delicate harmonies, intricate guitarwork, and swelling string parts.
John Dennis
‘First Light’
[folk/americana/acoustic]
Press Notes:
John Dennis is a Nashville, TN based singer songwriter signed to Rainfeather Records. He has developed his own unique brand of Americana music that, at once, harkens back to some of folk music’s greatest lyricists, namely: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and James Taylor, while also carving out a musical place that is uniquely his own. He will release his third full length record, “Mortal Flames” in January 2020, and, like the two that came before (“Eternity’s Tree” and “Second Wind”), it represents a substantial creative work brimming with an extraordinary maturity for a writer still in his twenties– both in the complexity of his craft and the courageous transparency of his subject matter. By never shying away from revealing his own scars, such as the tragic death of his girlfriend in 2010, his subsequent near fatal struggle with alcoholism, and his road to recovery, Dennis creates a deep human connection with his music and has an uncanny ability to provide an incredible testimony of hope and redemption that can only come from those that have found their way out of life’s most tragic and consuming darknesses. His work has been acclaimed by American Songwriter Magazine, The Alternate Root, and many others. For an artist who seems to run so deep, and whose authenticity plants him so firmly on the ground, the sky seems to be the limit for John Dennis.
Photo Credits: Randall Nyhof
Compiled by: Christos Doukakis