Hurray For the Riff Raff is currently a 4 piece folk band out of New Orleans, Louisiana. Alynda Lee leads the band with her all-star banjo skills and deep, aching voice. Walt McClements plays accordion, fiddle & toy piano, Aubrey Freeman plays double bass, and Shae Freeman plays the saw, autoharp & vocals. They sometimes collaborate with other local artists or long-time friends, including Brooklyn-based Amelia Jackie.
The Middle East were a musical collective from Townsville, Australia, which formed in 2005. Fusing various influences from post-rock to folk to ambient, various members have at different times played in other North Queensland based groups such as Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse, The Forest, and We Are Buildings.
After completing several East Coast tours, they released a split EP in 2006 with local Cairns band Sleeping in Trains. Their debut album The Recordings of the Middle East was released on 24th April 2008, shortly before the band announced their first split. They reconvened eight months later, and in the autumn of 2009 released their album in the United States as an abridged EP, also called The Recordings of the Middle East.
Their song "Blood" is featured in the films Accidents Happen, It's Kind of a Funny Story. and Crazy, Stupid, Love, as well as in an episode of the Australian television comedy-drama series Offspring and an advertisement for European bank BNP Paribas.
At the start of their appearance at 2011's Splendour in the Grass music festival, the band announced that their set that night would be their last show ever, thanking fans in attendance for making their finale special for the band. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Kristina Olsen (born on May 26, 1957 in San Francisco, California) is a contemporary folk singer-songwriter, known for her sometimes humorous and ribald songs. Many of her recordings appear on Rounder Records. On her recent albums, she collaborates with the Australian cellist Peter Grayling.
Vin Garbutt (born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom), though second generation Irish, is an English folk singer and songwriter. A signifant part of his repertoire consists of protest songs covering topics such as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland (Troubles of Erin), unemployment, and abortion. At the age of 21, in 1969, he threw caution to the winds and became a professional musician. Armed with the rich repertoire of songs he had amassed, he spent the first summer busking his way around the bars of Spain's Mediterranean coast, and on to Morocco via Gibraltar.
Animal Collective is a New York City/Washington, D.C/Lisbon based music collective of avant-garde musicians from Baltimore, Maryland. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Deakin (Josh Dibb), and Geologist (Brian Weitz). Records released under the name Animal Collective may include contributions from any or all of these members; the lineup is not uniform.
The Crooked Fiddle Band are a four-piece from Sydney, Australia who formed in late 2006. acoustic and mainly instrumental, tCFB are influenced by / include Eastern European, Celtic and USA traditional material in their punked up compositions. Instrumentation includes violin, double bass, drum kit, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, charango, hand percussion, cello. Free downloads are available from the Triple J Unearthed site and their Myspace. Links for buying their music are available through their official website: http://www.crookedfiddleband.com.
Jonathan Boulet is the 20 year old Australian wunderkind whose music is both poignant and intelligent, but with a beauty so sincere it feels like a crime not to embrace. Boulet writes anthemic folk-pop born out of a world of endless campfires and tribal jam sessions. The prodigiously talented Boulet wrote, recorded, produced and played almost every instrument in his tiny garage studio, using whatever means necessary to accomplish this triumphant Self Titled debut
emily ulman has established herself as one of melbournes finest singer-songwriters. emily is applauded for her lyrical honesty (ranging from moving and confessional, to humorous and self-deprecating), and the sheer beauty of her clear, distinctive vocal delivery. her albums and live performances have received critical acclaim including glowing reviews for her opening supports for beth orton, m ward, paul kelly, tim rogers, tex perkins, jolie holland, tim finn, and damien rice. one can't help but notice the immediacy and strength of emilys songwriting with her ability to move any audience.
Laura Marling (born 1st February 1990) is a folk singer/songwriter/guitarist from Eversley, United Kingdom. She began playing the guitar at the age of five, first being taught the blues by her father in front of the family fire, and has been enthralled by the songs and lyrics of the likes of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, James Taylor and John Mayall ever since. It’s not just the “golden-oldies” that Laura admires; she also harbours a rather deep love for alt.country’s favourite son, Ryan Adams.
