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 — including the latest from Gregory Alan Isakov & Sylvan Esso, I’m With Her, Lonesome River Band, Shakey Graves, and more. 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!

Gregory Alan Isakov & Sylvan Esso, “Fade Into You”

“Fade Into You” is a new Mazzy Star cover from Gregory Alan Isakov & Sylvan Esso (featuring Amelia Meath from Mountain Man). According to Isakov, “I grew up listening to Mazzy Star and sort of sketched this song out one afternoon… I sat on the recording I made for a long time, thinking it wasn’t quite finished, and reached out to Amelia of Sylvan Esso. She has one of my favorite voices of all time. Once I heard her on it, it felt ready. I really love how it came out.”

I’m With Her, “Obvious Child”

I’m With Her, the trio of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan, have just released a new live album Sing Me Alive. The recording features highlights from their 2025 Wild and Clear and Blue tour, including their cover of Paul Simon’s “Obvious Child.”

Lonesome River Band, “Pretty Little Widow”

The Lonesome River Band, the bluegrass group formed in 1982 by Tim Austin, is renowned for its tight harmonies and driving, innovative sound. Their latest is “Pretty Little Widow,” a comic rave-up that was first dished up by Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers in 1928.

Shakey Graves, “On My Own”

The latest album from Shakey Graves, also known as Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Fondness, Etc. (out 5/15) featurings the song “On My Own.” Rose-Garcia shares
“‘On My Own’ seems to be about the aftermath of a divorce or the looming threat of separation or eventual decay. I say ‘seems to’ because it wasn’t written about a specific instance, more of an amalgam of friends and family’s trials and tribulations. There’s always a voice saying you’re better off alone. Like that one penguin running off towards the mountain away from its food source and community, doomed certainly, but living its best life according to the narrator.”

More this week on Fresh Cuts!

Andy Leftwich – “Aced”
Angelo De Augustine – “Empty Shell”
Hrishikesh Hirway – “Things Change, Even Now”
Pharis & Jason Romero – “Last Call”
Ringo Starr – “It’s Been Too Long” (feat. Sarah Jarosz and Molly Tuttle)
Son Little – “Whip the Wind”
Steep Canyon Rangers – “Roll of the Dice”
Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band – “Wild About My Lovin'”
The Milk Carton Kids – “Blinded and Smiling”