Folk Alliance Band of the Day: ISMAY
ISMAY. // photo credit Aubrey Trinnaman
The Folk Alliance International Conference, presented by Folk Alliance International, has its 2024 iteration this February 21-25 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel. With well over 100 artists performing over the course of five days, “crossing a diverse array of genres including Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions,” it can be intimidating to figure out where to start.
We’ve selected a few artists for whom we think you should make time to see, and we’ll be featuring one a day leading up until the conference kicks off on Wednesday, February 21.
On January 26, ISMAY (Avery Hellman) released the folk-tinged alt-country record, Desert Pavement, the follow-up to their 2020 debut, Songs of Sonoma Mountain. It’s more than an album, though, with the music video for “Stranger In The Barn, an official selection of the SXSW Film & TV Festival 2024. Also, the track “The Golden Palomino” tells the story of “a miraculous moment with a horse while feeding animals in the pasture” which occurred during the filming of a documentary called Finding Lucinda, wherein Hellman takes us on a young songwriter’s journey to finding inspiration and purpose for their own creative process through the steppingstones of Lucinda Williams.
“ISMAY is a Folk/Americana music project driven by singer-songwriter Avery Hellman. Growing up at their grandfather’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, ISMAY was inspired early on by watching Emmylou Harris and Hazel Dickens. Their work is deeply influenced by spending the past decade living and working on their family’s ranch.”
ISMAY plays Thursday, February 22, at 7:45pm in Pershing.
New this year to the conference is that the public can get tickets to the official showcases. You don’t have to register for the conference to go for just one night. Individual evening tickets available here.
You can find out more information on the 2023 Folk Alliance International Conference at Folk Alliance International’s website.
