Powered by RedCircle Peter Mulvey‘s music is emotional, rousing, gritty and real. The Milwaukee singer songwriter has been at it since the late 1980’s playing in the streets of Dublin and Boston before starting his career proper in the early 1990’s. Mulvey’s upbringing was with liberal parents who are in love with science and activism … Read more
Powered by RedCircle California-born and Boston resident Rachel Sumner had an early interest in classical music that lead her to pursuing a career in film orchestration. After switching gears at Berklee College of Music, Rachel became interested in bluegrass thanks to discovery the music of Hazel Dickens And Alice Gerrard. Eventually, she met her future bandmates … Read more
Powered by RedCircle This week we have Irish singer/songwriter Mark Dignam on the podcast. Mark grew up in the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. It was in Dublin where he gained his experience as a performer by busking around town with well-known folk singer, Glen Hansard. Dignam brought his love of music to Pittsburgh, PA where … Read more
Powered by RedCircle Singer/Songwriter Maya de Vitry is on the podcast this week! Maya was a former member of the string trio The Stray Birds, but now she has stepped out on her own with her first solo album, Adaptations. de Vitry grew up on 7 acres of rolling green in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Even from … Read more
Originally from a rural Farmington, Maine, Eleanor Buckland of Lula Wiles grew up playing fiddle in her family’s jams. This week on Basic Folk, Buckland talks being a fourth generation musician, her rock guitar father, and the basements tapes she has from her grandma, legendary bluegrass player, Bettie Buckland. As a kid, Buckland’s violin took … Read more
Hi! Welcome to Alex Stanton week! Alex is a Pittsburgh born and bred singer/songwriter who heads up the band townsppl. Growing up Stanton spent a lot of time hanging out where all the cool kids wanted to be, on the set of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. His mother worked in the art department for the show … Read more
Powered by RedCircle Anais Mitchell is about to hit Broadway with Hadestown! But first! The Vermont songwriter is on Basic Folk. Her folk opera, Hadestown, set to open at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway March 2019. Anais tells me about her childhood on a sheep farm in Vermont, growing up without a TV, and … Read more
Dawn Landes is a woman who knows her way around a recording studio AND a rowboat. Before becoming a fulltime performer/songwriter Dawn worked as a sound engineer for many years. After studying for a bit at NYU she left school to pursue an internship at Phillip Glass’ studio. It was at Phillip Glass’ studio she … Read more
I feel very grateful to have Kaia Kater on Basic Folk! Her willingness to talk so openly about the whiteness of folk music had me in awe. I learned a lot about her experience in the world as a biracial person. This is one not to miss. You might say Grenadian-Canadian, clawhammer banjo player and … Read more
Nora Jane Struthers started in bluegrass, but has leaned towards Americana and rock and roll in the past decade. She’s also got an incredible life story that includes overcoming dyslexia, infertility and falling in love with her bandmate. She plays and records as Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line. Originally a high school English … Read more