Three folk tunes that will make you want to find your old guitar again

Nikki Henskens – “Sticky bar”
-The fingerpicking on this song was enough to get me to say yes, but then Nikki Henskens began to sing and absolutely won me over. The expressive lead vocal here reminds me a lot of Andrea von Kampen. It’s a sincerity that can’t be taught or purchased or adjusted in a studio. It’s either there or it isn’t and Henskens has it in spades. This is the kind of acoustic folk music that wins me over every time. The lyrical content is largely metaphorical and will have the listener getting lost in beautiful, dreamlike folk storytelling. It’s a treat.

Jackamo – “Molly Kate”
-If you’re looking for a cathartic acoustic folk sound with some good vocals, give Jackamo a spin. The overall mix is unique, but the best parts come when the folk duo harmonies shine through. The voices seem like they’ve been singing together for a long time as the vocal blending is evident. Sometimes the melody feels a bit like an unconventional, experimental type of folk, but it works on this track. The key repeated melody gives the listener a nice sense of “home” as the song meanders and returns to that root.

Dot Allison – “Can you hear nature sing?”
-The calming atmospheric quality of this song is really endearing. There’s a great connection between the 60s folk revival and the expressions of nature that come through in this track. As our world moves toward some of the animism and naturalism that has defined humanity for thousands of years, more music like this will connect us to our ancestral roots. It’s earthy, yet light. It’s grounded, yet soars in places. The vocal harmonies are astonishing. This is a piece of music that will make its way onto a lot of folk collections, including ours.