From a conservatory-trained artist who previously fronted a much beloved bluegrass band and has finally launched a solo career, to a jam band who took an unexpected turn toward something else altogether, about five albums into their career...the artists listed below are probably only new to those who don't pay very close attention to American folk music. Then again, most people in America don't pay very close attention to American folk music, so it works out. Besides, ten years from now, when we look back on the music that happened in 2013, it's likely to be the first year when any of these artists really found their footing and started running us forward in time. So, with that somewhat fuzzy definition of what a "new" artist even means in this genre, here's a look at five artists who - memorably, artistically - began anew in 2013.
•The Stray Birds
The Stray Birds may have shown up on the national folk circuit a year or two ago, but 2013 was when they really started to step up their game. Building on the sparseness of guitar, fiddle, bass, and three-part harmonies, the Stray Birds manage to create sounds together that are no less than transcendent. They seem to float on a plain of grooves all their own, similar to how Gillian Welch and David Rawlings just turn on and go. I saw them deliver remarkable and buzz-worthy sets at both the Americana festival and the IBMA conference week, as the Stray Birds upped their game and became a major force on the up-and-coming folk/Americana scene. They may have released their self-tiled debut in 2012, but it was the work they did on stages across the country this year that made them an unignorable force in the folk world. More »
•Elephant Revival
Elephant Revival is another band who's been around for a little while (they've made a handful of independently released recordings before their 2013 release These Changing Skies). But, the music they dropped this year reached far beyond the newgrassy jam band realm toward which they had previously appeared to be headed. Still heavy on the creative arrangements and occasional "jammy" vibe, Elephant Revival rested just as heavily on beautifully tight harmonies, atmospheric arrangements and poetic, emotional lyricism. It'll be interesting to see where they take this new aesthetic next. They very well might be onto a whole new path for traditionally-influenced songwriting. More »
•Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O'Donovan is not very new to the world of folk and bluegrass, but what she's doing as a solo artist, separate from her long-time much-beloved band Crooked Still, certainly depicts her as a new artist altogether. O'Donovan displayed, on her 2013 release Fossils, an ease for marrying traditional forms with contemporary aesthetics. Her complex storytelling songs and richly nuanced arrangements straddle a wide line between folk, jazz, and traditional pop styles, with her tenuous, airy vocals tying the whole package together. It'll be interesting to see the music that spills forth from O'Donovan as time passes. More »
•Mandolin Orange
In many ways, folk music in 2013 was either reserved for great singer-songwriters (O'Donovan, but also Jason Isbell, Holly Williams, Patty Griffin - who released two albums in one year - and others). But Mandolin Orange (along with the Milk Carton Kids) held it down for the old, wonderful tradition of the folk music duo. The North Carolina-based pair makes music that is sweet and delicious, heavy on harmony and intuitive lyricism woven into melodies where one note just pours into the next. Lovely songwriting, and great instrumentalism too.More »
•New Country Rehab
It's been coming, and inevitable for a few years now. But 2013 was finally the year when the cool thing to do was to be a band that sounded like Mumford & Sons. The right amount of rock edge paired together with acoustic instruments, three- and four-part harmonies, and some where's-the-melody-in-all-that-noise shredding on a banjo. As new bands that sound a little like Mumford go, there was no finer group than New Country Rehab. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but New Country Rehab made music that was clearly, perhaps, influenced by the same forces that gave rise to Mumford, without being really at all derivative. As folk-rock goes, they were one of the best bands actually moving that style forward in 2013.More »