The Strumbellas

The Strumbellas know that misery loves company, and that if we’re together, even in dark times, there’s some joy in that. Their songs of suffering and celebration date back to their 2012 debut My Father And The Hunter, and the band have obsessively chased big hooks, group vocal exuberance, and folk-rock propulsion through their 2016 breakthrough Hope to 2024’s Part Time Believer. The Juno and iHeartRadio Music Award-winning group’s new song Hard Lines gives listeners an urgent, new take on their iconic mix of intimate feelings with stadium folk sounds.

Determined to use every tool in their arsenal to write a good song, The Strumbellas started by looking inward: random song titles, non-sequitur ideas, scraps of paper, and voice memos of half-sung melodies came from everyone in the band. From their home in Toronto, they reached out to favourite collaborators — songwriters and producers in Vancouver, Nashville, LA, and beyond — to create demos that ranged from campfire-chord whispers to radio-ready productions. The group then connected with producer Chad Copelin (LANY, Sasha Sloan, Colony House), and headed for his studio in Norman, Oklahoma. Copelin’s finely honed sonic instincts bring out a newly textured, insistently edgy side to The Strumbellas’ alt-folk stomp.

“We’re living in a lonely world,” says keyboardist Dave Ritter. “Whether it’s work or our home life or our screens, life seems cut up into smaller and smaller pieces all disconnected from each other. Hard Lines is about picking your way through the rubble of contemporary life and the hope that we can build things together again. It’s something we’re reminded of when we gather to write or rehearse songs, and when we get to play for people, that music brings us together, gives us some moments of connection that are hard to find these days.”

Feeling disconnected? Call 1-855-HRD-LINE.

Gillian Welch

www.gillianwelch.com

Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco is an American singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, poet and songwriter and a feminist icon who has released over twenty albums.

Valerie June

Bobby Alu

Singer, ukulele strummer and drummer. Bringing nothing but smooth sounds and sunshine.

Jesse Welles

Jesse Welles, from garage-rock frontman to one of today’s most urgent folk voices.

With lyrics both topical and timeless, Jesse captures the grit and soul of American protest music.

Junior Brown

S.G. Goodman

David Rawlings

daverawlingsmachine.com

Steve Poltz

I play guitar. I sing songs. I travel many miles to bring you these creations.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Gillian Welch's musical style combines elements of bluegrass, neotraditional country, americana, old time string band music and folk into a rustic style that she dubs "American Primitive". Her music is often described as haunting or soothing.

Welch was born in Manhattan and was adopted when she was three days old. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of four. By the age of seven, she had learned to play the guitar. Studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz Welch discovered bluegrass music through the "mountain soul" stylings of The Stanley Brothers. After a short stint in a local band, Welch moved to Boston and studied at the Berklee College of Music.

In Boston, Welch met and began dating David Rawlings, who would become her longtime musical partner. In 1992, they moved to Nashville and began building a career. In Nashville, she met T-Bone Burnett, producer to such artists as Los Lobos, Sam Phillips, Counting Crows, and Elvis Costello. In 1996, Welch released her first album, Revival, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1997. Since then, she has recorded other albums and collaborated on the songs "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby" and "I'll Fly Away" on the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers hit O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Welch has also collaborated with good friend and singer/songwriter Ryan Adams on the albums Heartbreaker, Gold, and Demolition. She and Rawlings toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Buddy Miller in 2004 as The Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue. Welch and Rawlings have collaborated with Old Crow Medicine Show and appear in their video of their song "Wagon Wheel".

It's also of note that Welch covered the Radiohead track "Black Star" with her own distinctive sound in at least one live set. A recording of this cover has not been released on any album, but is widely available online.

John McCutcheon

Tommy Prine

Big Richard

The world-class musicians in Big Richard initially convened in 2021 for a festival date. The quartet showed up to the one-off like it had been together for years, bursting with jaw-dropping virtuosity; playfully irreverent stage banter; stunning four-part harmony; imaginative arrangements; a refreshingly eclectic repertoire; and a healthy dose of lady rage.

Quickly things for the Colorado-based, neo-acoustic supergroup morphed into something way bigger than a one-and-done appearance. The sellout club shows, and the confirmed festival dates across America drastically changed its members’ lives. Now, Big Richard is poised to penetrate the Americana music world and beyond. To date, the quartet has issued 3 singles, the “Live from Telluride” album, and their debut studio album, “Girl Dinner.”

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Scott Test

Folks Festival 2026 @ Planet Bluegrass

Folks Festival 2026 @ Planet Bluegrass

Flytjendur