Grace Potter, Dawes, Trampled by Turtles, Maggie Rose, et Grand Point North

A musical child from an early age, Grace Potter sung in choirs, school musical productions and regional theatre productions while learning to play the piano from her mother. However, she wouldn't form a proper band until she went to college, where she met Matt Burr during an open-mic performance in 2002. Burr would later become the drummer of The Nocturnals, and also Potter's wife, and the duo would later recruit bassist Courtright Beard and guitarist Scott Tournet to complete the first true line-up of Potter's backing band in 2003. Rather than go the traditional route of searching for a label to release their music, the band formed their own label, Ragged Company, to release Potter's 2004 solo debut “Original Soul”.

Potter's second album and the band's first, 2005's “Nothing But The Water”, was also released on Ragged Company but by that point, they'd built up such a name for themselves via their records and their famed live shows, that Potter and the band signed with Hollywood Records in December of the same year. Ever since then, Potter has remained a massively acclaimed name in modern rock, with the seal of approval of everyone from The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach to Kenny Chesney, with whom Potter collaborated with to create “You And Tequila”, a top three hit on the Billboard country charts and to date, Potter's only appearance in the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100. She's an artist who's achieved far more in the first decade of her career than most achieve in a lifetime, and she's got so much more to offer as well. For that, Grace Potter comes highly recommended.

Starting life in 2009, Dawes were formed out of the remnants of the band, Simon Dawes, after main songwriter Blake Mills left the group. The remaining members continued, shortening their name to Dawes. Featuring brothers Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Tay Strathairn (guitar) and Wylie Gelber (bass), the band recorded their debut album, “North Hills,” with producer Jonathan Wilson. The album received positive critical acclaim, praised for its roots-rock and classic sound. They recorded the album using analog tape, helping to give a vintage authenticity to the record, which also featured contributions from Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone.

Their second record was released in 2011, titled “Nothing Is Wrong,” which broke into the mainstream charts, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard album chart. Following the release, the band toured alongside Blitzen Trapper on a large-scale US tour. Dawes also performed at the Occupy Wall Street event in Liberty Park, New York, US, helping to support the cause through a set in collaboration with Jackson Browne.

Their third release, “Stories Don’t End,” appeared in April 2013, preceded by the two singles, “From a Window Seat” and “Just Beneath the Surface.” The album again was positively received and faired well in the Billboard charts, reaching number 36, as well as number five in the US Folk Albums chart. Their third album signalled a change in their sound after moving to producer Jacquire King, releasing the album on Red General Catalog rather than ATO Records, which was the home for Dawes’ first two albums.

If Duluth, Minnesota’s going to be famous for two things, then they might as well be really, really cool things. The first is that the critically acclaimed Netflix adaptation of the Coen Brothers film “Fargo” is set there. The second thing the small, snow covered town is famous for is being the birthplace of one of the folk scene’s most exciting new bands, Trampled By Turtles.

The band represents a different breed of country music altogether quite different from Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers, arguably the instigators and definitely the biggest names of the recent folk revival.

Both of those bands are essentially singer-songwriters backed by full bands. While Trampled By Turtles are for one, very much a single unit, for another they bring a much harder edged, speedier form of indie rock inflected bluegrass.

Their sound is all hectic banjos, groaning violins and furiously strummed mandolins. It’s quite ridiculously exciting to listen to and is even better live. The instrumentalism is uniformly impeccable, and the atmosphere of joyous abandon and cameraderie tops it all off.

This makes sense considering the how the band was formed. Each member began their music career in different rock bands, and once they got to know each other, they formed a folk side project together to cut loose and take a break from their day jobs.

This is a world where most forms of art seem to be forced to be grey and dour in order to be taken seriously. However, the sense of joy and passion that permeates everything this band does, not to mention the sheer quality of the songwriting and performance, makes them truly unmissable.