If you love traditional string band music that is enhanced by sublime vocals and superb musicianship all wrapped up with a contemporary twist, then Low Lily is the band for you.
The Brattleboro, Vermont-based trio will perform at The Permaculture Place, located at 49 Conway St. in Shelburne Falls, on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m.
Low Lily features Liz Simmons on guitar and banjo, her husband Flynn Cohen on mandolin and guitar, and newcomer Lily Sexton on fiddle. All three of them share vocals.
Sexton, who joined the band in April after the departure of Natalie Padilla, is well-known to Pioneer Valley music fans as she leads her own Americana band Splendid Torch and previously worked with the neo-bluegrass band Mamma’s Marmalade.
“We are so thrilled to have her with us. She brings a spontaneity and an in-the-moment artistry to the music that feels new and exciting,” Simmons wrote in a recent email. “In addition to her fluid, mellifluous fiddle playing, Lily is also a beautiful singer, and our vocal blend feels comfortable, smooth and solid.”
The band, which formed in 2015, take its name from a wildflower that grows here in the Northeast. The musicians have some impressive achievements to their credit, having two No. 1 songs on international folk radio and having won two independent music awards. Their original song, “Hope Lingers On,” written by former band member Lissa Schneckenburger, has been embraced as an anthem for peace and justice, and is sung all over the world.
Low Lily has released two full-length albums, with the most recent being 2023’s “Angels in the Wreckage,” but that will soon change.
“We have been working like mad on new material and will be going into Northfire [Recording] Studio in Amherst in December to record a new full-length album, due out sometime in early 2027,” Simmons said. “The record will feature originals from all three of us, plus some choice covers which we’re delighted to include.”
So, expect to hear some new material at Friday’s show. They may even play a couple of spooky tunes, keeping with the season.
We should also mention that Low Lily is known for its annual Winter Solstice concerts, which the band has been hosting since 2019. One of those concerts will be held at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Monday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m.
These concerts provide an alternative to the usual holiday music performances, featuring original and traditional songs and covers that capture the beauty, joy and challenges we experience in December. You can expect to hear everything from thought-provoking ballads to the kind of up-tempo, foot-stomping instrumentals that we’ve come to expect from a Low Lily concert.
Tickets for The Permaculture Place show are $25 (plus fees) and are available at thepermacultureplace.org. This concert series helps raise money for The Permaculture Place in support of its nonprofit work.
Tickets for the Winter Solstice show are $24 and are available at ironhorse.org.
New music from Buzzard and The Suitcase Junket
The new music keeps coming, and this week, Buzzard will release its fourth album, “Hush Now,” on Friday, Oct. 16. Buzzard is the one-man doom folk project of Shutesbury resident Christopher Elliott. For this project, he writes, performs and records everything in his basement.
Are you wondering, “What exactly is doom folk?” Well, it is a blending of the storytelling power of acoustic folk music with the guitar power of metal music. Lyrically, the genre borrows from science fiction, horror and social satire. I think Elliott sums it up best with the question, “What if Bob Dylan listened to Black Sabbath and read H.P. Lovecraft?”
A lot of Buzzard’s music is protest music with bite. For instance, Elliott rages against our consumer culture and its impact on our planet and our lives on “Contaminate, Consume,” one of the 10 tracks on “Hush Now.”
The song starts off with some acoustic guitar and quiet strings in the background, and once the chorus kicks in, listeners are hit with a wave of heavy guitar. It’s an angry song, as is much of Buzzard’s work. And that’s some of the appeal of doom folk — the music matches the lyrics, unlike protest songs in the folk genre that have a tendency to feature bouncy sing-along choruses. If you want to sing along to any of these songs, you will probably need to scream.
You can hear/purchase “Hush Now” on bandcamp.com. Elliott is currently working with a band and hopes to perform at The Heavy Culture Cooperative in Easthampton in the near future.
Elliott isn’t the only one-man band with new music. The Suitcase Junket, aka Matt Lorenz, released his new album, “To Go On,” last week. The album was inspired by and dedicated to his sister Kate Lorenz, who died suddenly in July 2022.
Local music fans are likely familiar with the music the siblings created together, first in the group Rusty Belle, and later, when Kate contributed to The Suitcase Junket projects. She also had a solo career.
On songs like “Blindside Memory,” he’s writing directly to Kate, while on “Put Your Phone Down,” he reminds us that life is precious and that we should not take a minute for granted. The 11 tracks on “To Go On” are rawer and more stripped down than his last album, the Steve Berlin-produced “The End is New.” For this album, Lorenz has returned to working with Justin Pizzoferrato of Sonelab Studios in Easthampton, who he has a long history of working with. Overall, “To Go On” is a beautiful and vulnerable work that will resonate with everyone who has experienced loss in their life.
“Kate’s more on my mind than she ever would have been if she were alive, so there’s something sweet in that sadness,” Lorenz said. “When I’m singing and performing, I feel closer to her.”
You can hear Lorenz perform when he holds a record release show at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m. He will be joined by Caitlin Canty, Kris Delmhorst and Louisa Stancioff.
Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.