Hear the Best New Folk Music with Fresh Cuts Friday
Discover the Best New Music of the Week!
We’ve pulled together some of the best new music we’ve heard lately — and you can hear it all on Fresh Cuts, my weekly radio hour. Tune in every Friday at 2pm ET / 11am PT on Folk Alley’s 24/7 stream — available on our website, mobile app, or your smart speaker too.
Prefer to listen on your own time? Just click on the Fresh Cuts stream whenever it works for you.
In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at some exciting new music that’s caught our ears this week!
Mark Erelli, “Weary Traveler”
Boston-based singer-songwriter, sideman, and producer, Mark Erelli, is renowned for his emotional honesty, craftsmanship, and warmth. On his fourteenth solo album, Spring Green, featuring “Weary Traveler,” he steps away from showcasing his vast musical range, focusing instead on presence and simplicity.
Anna Tivel, “Memphis”
“Memphis” is another b-side from Anna Tivel’s 2025 album Animal Poem. Of the track, she offers, “I started writing ‘Memphis’ on an airplane after meeting an electric eyed ex-convict heading to an evangelical gathering in Tennessee. He was magnetic, ecstatic, possibly manic, and so in love with life. He got me thinking about the things we reach for when reality is too painful to accept.”
Lonesome Ace Stringband, “Uncle Henry”
A new recording from Lonesome Ace Stringband, “Uncle Henry.” comes from the 109-year-old Arkansas fiddler Violet Hensley. “I first heard it played by my friends Pete and Ellen Vigour at a festival down in Charlottesville, VA in the early 90s. I was instantly taken under its spell.” – Chris Coole
Valerie Smith, “When You Ain’t Got Nothin'”
Virginia based singer-songwriter Valerie Smith’s latest is the new 30-track musical narrative, Maggie’s Journal. “Maggie’s Journal is the story of my great-grandmother, Margaret Attebury Brooks-McCamis —based on her own words, written in a “Car Load Tablet” found decades after her death in an attic trunk by my cousins Kathy Jones Eads and Fonda Wells. Unveiling a life untold, the journal revealed Maggie’s early years in post-Civil War rural Missouri—married too young to a violent man, Maggie hid a kind and gentle soul beneath a hardened shell. Her journal became the heartbeat of this 12-year labor of love. I set her raw, emotional entries to 14 original songs, blending folk, bluegrass, Americana, and roots—alternating them with readings from her journal with me voicing Maggie’s words. Her story, personal and unflinching, is a masterpiece of resilience, offering timeless insights into American history, women’s and children’s rights, education, and the enduring human spirit.” – Valerie Smith
More this week on Fresh Cuts!
Bywater Call – “Only”
Boy Golden – “Suffer”
Carsie Blanton – “Little Flame”
Courtney Marie Andrews – “Keeper”
David Huckfelt – “Anything”
Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz – “10 to 4”
Langhorne Slim – “Rickety Ol’ Bridge”
Markéta Irglová – “Nameless Children”
Tyler Ramsey & Carl Broemel – “Elizabeth Brown”
