Three wonderful new folk tunes that bring sentimentality and beauty to the genre

Sierra Spirit – “Rodeo Clown”
-I’ve been writing about folk music for well over a decade now and every time I find a song like this that catches my attention so completely, I feel something that can only be described as “chills.” Sierra Spirit’s vocal is just right… a little bit familiar, approachable, and intriguing. Her expressive style gives each line with such depth and character, it makes you really want to know the people in the song. The imagery is about a “rodeo clown,” that is to say a person who is a bit of a joke. The tender acoustic work conveys something akin to intimacy, yet the lyrics are a bit more scathing and critical. The balance is something that feels sweetly familiar and connecting.

Hayden Everett – “Taylor”
-I adore this track and have been listening to it since the day I approved. Hayden Everett reminds me of a songwriter I featured years ago named Jeremiah Daly. And Daly, of course, reminded me of early career Noah Gundersen. That is to say, Everett here reminds me of the way I felt when I first heard “Saints and Liars” by Gundersen. There’s this delicate, introspective energy to the song that absolutely makes it connect. The production is just busy enough to make it stand out, without crowding the sincerity of the vocal performance. It’s the kind of song that makes the listener feel the lyrics, like the first time you held a deep conviction. This song feels good to listen to, but it also gives me these cognitive connections to my own background, to moments and people from my own story. In other words, it simultaneously pulls me out of my own story then back into it. It’s wonderous.

Lucy Clearwater – “Love a Friend”
-I guess the biggest compliment I can give a love song is that as soon as I heard it, I sent it to my wife of (nearly) 20 years. Really. I don’t think I was even done with my first full listen when I sent it to her. Lucy Clearwater has a magical voice that feels like sipping on a warm cup of tea on a cold day. There’s an unhurried style to the acoustic guitar that makes me feel so cozy and cared for just listening. Some of these lines are a bit close to home, like the one about knowing the safety of a boundary, but I like how the intimacy feels so genuine here. It’s a love song, sure, but it’s also an invitation into an intimate space that seems like a musical therapy session, reflecting on the challenges of complex relationship dynamics.