Displaying items by tag: folk

With her fourth album, Undercurrent, Sarah Jarosz makes a studied departure from her previous records, shifting the emphasis from her skills as a multi-instrumentalist to her songwriting and vocal performance. Undercurrent accentuates the growth and maturity that Jarosz, now 25, has achieved since graduating from New England Conservatory and moving to New York City. The change in approach garnered Jarosz two Grammy Awards in 2017—Best Folk Album for Undercurrent and Best American Roots Performance for “House Of Mercy.” Undercurrent also picked up the award for 2017 Album of the Year from Folk Alliance International.

Sammy Brue embodies the kind of wisdom, talent and natural empathy that are often signs of age and maturity, and yet at 15 years old, he can place himself in the shoes of others, real or fictionalized, and write stories about them. "He's a student of East Nashville, not Greenwich Village, budding from this new folk resurgence in fascinating ways." ~ Rolling Stone Country

The Ogden, UT based songwriter has been writing songs since the age of 10. He signed to New West Records at 14 and now, with his debut album in hand, Sammy takes the next step forward. The forthcoming album, titled I Am Nice, produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and John Paul White (former Civil Wars) will be released early summer of 2017. Recorded in Florence, Al, they created a brilliant album with nuanced dimension that provides emotional resonance to Brue's songs which Rolling Stone described as “a collection of devastatingly beautiful songs that touch on heartbreak, jealousy, God and Suicide;” and further declared Brue as “An Americana prodigy."

Though Sammy may appear quiet and unassuming, his songs speak volumes. From busking at Sundance at the age of 10, to opening for Justin Townes Earle, John Paul White, Lucinda Williams and John Moreland to mention a few, and performing at Summerfest, and the Newport Folk Festival, you will be hearing a lot about Sammy Brue as he stands on the precipice of what appears to be a long and ever-evolving creative journey.

Raised in hard-bitten Nebraska, Joshua James’ work reflects a distinctly American ache, a yearning for a big sky and an open road. Beckoned westward out of his heartland home by the voices of Jim Morrison and Isaac Brock, he made it as far as the mountains of Utah, where like the settlers before him, he was stopped in his tracks by the arresting beauty. Here, where the mountains pierce the heavens, some believe a conduit is open between man and the divine.

Facing West is a duo from Northern Utah featuring Colten Peterson on the bass and Hudson Bosworth playing guitar and banjo. Their musical style is primarily rooted in Bluegrass but spans many different genres including Americana, Rock, and Country. The duo has recently been hard at work creating and performing originals that have quickly become crowd favorites. They enjoy writing their own music and just recorded their first EP that is now available for purchase. Hudson won his blue guitar at the Utah state flatpicking competition last summer at the Ogden Music Festival and was able to travel to the Winfield Music Festival and compete at the National level. Facing West were recently involved in a PTSA Battle of the Bands and recognized as one of the top 12 bands out of 192 in the State of Utah at a High School Level. Their youthful energy combined with their love for performing on the live stage is sure to entertain audiences of all ages!